Inline Insights

The Labour Party's annual conference took place in Liverpool from Sunday 22 September to Wednesday 25 September. While the conference did not provide much detailed policy discussion, it was a chance for the new government to communicate its agenda and the role it foresees for tech. In this blog, we outline the key takeaways and policy announcements from tech discussions at the Labour conference.

I sat down for an hour-and-a-half in early August with Kai Zenner, longtime policy advisor to MEP Axel Voss. Brussels had emptied for the summer, and we sported shorts and t-shirts at an outdoor café in a quiet Place du Luxembourg. We talked about his background in EU digital policy, and in particular about the future of AI, in Europe and beyond. A recurring theme was the EU’s need to think globally and strategically — rather than along nationalistic or ideological lines — in order to compete and stay relevant. Here’s a summary of our conversation.

In this blog, we look at the future of European telecoms legislation, including the possibilities for a Digital Networks Act during the 2024-2029 mandate.

In this blog, we analyse the Labour government's planned reforms to the UK's data protection and cyber security frameworks.

In this blog, we investigate what role current French Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton might play in the upcoming European Commission.

On 28 June, the US Supreme Court overturned the ‘Chevron deference’, an administrative law principle allowing federal agencies to interpret and implement statutes with the understanding that federal courts would ultimately defer to those agencies’ interpretation of ambiguous laws. In this blog, we will go over the Supreme Court’s ruling and the implications it could have on the technology sector, with a particular focus on AI.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has won a second five-year term. Her focus will be competitiveness, security and sustainability — defined less by green ideology than a push for clean industrialisation. With the European Parliament’s committees now formed, work will start in the autumn: to vet commissioners-designate, and vie for political control of the new programme. In this blog, we explore the key committees and committee members for the tech sector.

On 17 July, King Charles III delivered the King's Speech, outlining the government's legislative programme for the new parliamentary session. The government has announced 40 bills which aim to unlock growth and ‘take the brakes off Britain’. This blog examines the proposals affecting the tech, climate, and energy sectors, and what business should expect as the government introduces legislation.

The electorate has given Labour the second-largest majority (after Tony Blair in 1997) in British parliamentary history since Clement Atlee led a Labour Government in 1945. While the result needs to be qualified by the low voter turnout (at an estimated 60%, it was the second-lowest in post-war history) and the low share of the vote that Labour obtained (at only approximately 34%), the size of its majority means the party will have a largely free hand in pushing its agenda through parliament. Now that the UK has a new Prime Minister, a new parliament, and, shortly, a new cabinet, we look at what Labour’s victory could mean for the tech as well as the climate and energy sectors.

In advance of the General Election on 4 July, Parliament has been formally dissolved. This Parliament, constituted following Boris Johnson’s landslide election victory in December 2019, has passed several pieces of important tech legislation, though some others have fallen by the wayside in the rush to finish business before dissolution. In this blog, we examine what the 2019-24 Parliament, and the government which commanded a majority within it, did for the tech sector. 

In advance of the European Parliament elections between 6 and 9 June, the candidates from five of Europe's major political groupings debated one another across a wide range of issues, including the economy, the climate and the environment, and technology policy on 23 May 2024. This briefing provides a summary of the key points each candidate made during the debate.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act establishes a new regime for digital competition in the UK. The Act also updates the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) powers to enforce existing competition law and resolve consumer disputes, and protects consumers from unfair commercial, subscription, prepayment and saving schemes. The Act received royal assent on 24 May. In this blog, we discuss the new ex-ante competition regime established by the Act and what companies should expect as the CMA begins to enforce the legislation. The blog examines how the UK general election might influence the enforcement timeline. 

The prime minister has announced that he is calling a general election on 4 July. Here is what happens next.

In the fast-paced world of social media, concerns about digital addiction are taking centre stage once again, with TikTok and Meta at the forefront of scrutiny.

Three key EU institutions - the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union - walk into a room. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but trust us, it's anything but! They're there to work through laws, policies, and regulations that impact the lives of over 500 million Europeans. In this blog, we're going to lift the curtain on trilogue negotiations and shed light on why this resolution is useful for the swift functioning of EU policy making.

The Media Bill is a broad piece of legislation which will, amongst other things, makes changes to the way in which video-on-demand services are regulated in the UK. On 28 February, the Media Bill will have its second reading in the House of Lords, having been passed by the House of Commons. In this blog, we discuss the implications the Media Bill will have for the video-on-demand sector in the UK, as well as the next steps. 

In the ever-changing global landscape marked by geopolitical tensions and technological shifts, the European Commission is fortifying the economic security of the European Union with a series of new initiatives.

As political institutions slowly emerge from their Christmas hibernation, we look at the key unresolved issues in tech regulation in the UK and the EU. 

After an intense three-day negotiation marathon, the European Parliament and the Council of the EUreached a provisional agreement on the much-anticipated EU AI Act on 8 December 2023. As the world’s first comprehensive legislation on artificial intelligence (AI), this marks a pivotal moment in global AI regulation. With a risk-based approach, the AI Act introduces a structured approach to AI oversight, tailoring regulations to the complexity and capability of various AI systems. 

In November 2023 the UK Government outlined its regulatory intentions for the cryptocasset industry. In this blog, we summarise the UK Government’s plans for the future regulation of cryptoassets and explain the next steps.