Hogan Lovells’ Paris office recently hosted a seminar on the Digital Single Market, the strategy launched a year ago by the European Commission, in the context of the French Digital Republic Bill which is currently being discussed before the French Parliament.
In May 2015, the European Commission launched its Digital Single Market strategy to make the EU single market fit for the digital age, as one of its top priorities. To do so, European policy-makers chose three pillars to focus on: a better access for consumers and businesses to the digital market, a maximization of the growth potential of the digital economy and the creation of the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish. An ambitious roadmap was presented, with the objective of major digital transformations across all sectors of industry.
This seminar was introduced by Christine Gateau and Winston Maxwell, both Partners in Hogan Lovells’ Paris office.
Nils Rauer, a Partner and Head of the Frankfurt IPMT team, gave a keynote speech in which he provided an overview of the main features of the Digital Single Market strategy and its status.
Alastair Shaw, a Counsel in the firm’s London IPMT practice, together with Camille Pecnard, a Senior Associate in the Paris IPMT practice, described the initiatives on the future of copyrights in Europe and France (for more information on the subject, see our blog posts on the new European copyright framework here and here, on copyright exceptions, on the creation of a fairer marketplace and on the fight against piracy).
Patrice Navarro, a Senior Associate in the Paris Commercial group, contrasted the anticipated implementation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with the competing obligations and sanctions of the draft French Digital Republic Bill, which seem likely to become law in France in advance of the GDPR taking effect in May 2018 (for more information on the GDPR and the future of data protection in Europe, see our articles here and here, and on the French Digital Republic Bill and its impact on data protection, please see our articles here and here).
Finally, Christelle Coslin, Counsel in the Paris Litigation practice, analyzed the notion of platforms and the obligations applicable to them, in view of the current discussions on the French Digital Republic Bill and the release on 25 May 2016 by the European Commission of a Communication on online platforms (for more information on this issue, see our blog posts on the obligations imposed on platforms by the French Digital Bill and on the European Commission’s targeted approach to online platforms).
The discussions were followed by a cocktail party during which everyone enjoyed the delightful view from the Hogan Lovells Paris’ terrace!