On Wednesday 6 September members of the European Tech Alliance presented evidence to MEPs on the ePrivacy Regulation and the impact it will have on Europe’s ability to grow and scale world-beating tech companies. Our thanks go to MEP Lauristin, rapporteur on the file, for hosting the event and chairing the discussion, and to the MEPs and advisors who took time out of their busy schedules to attend.
At the roundtable MEPs heard from European companies from Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, France and the Netherlands, several of them with offices and service offerings across Europe, covering sectors including travel, search, music, games and more. Very diverse viewpoints were shared, however several clear messages came through in the discussion of the regulation:
- Companies must be allowed to provide ancillary communication within other apps and services without being caught by unnecessary regulation designed for large-scale communication services
- Clarity required on where the new ePrivacy Regulation would apply and where the GDPR will apply instead, avoiding any overlap or confusion
- Proportionality of regulation to privacy risks for users needs to be found – a careful balance was struck in the GDPR which should be kept here
- Impact on competitiveness of European start-ups and SMEs has not been properly assessed
It is clear that the Regulation, as proposed, would have a major impact on European tech companies’ ability to grow and compete globally.
The Alliance are here to help policy-makers hear from European scale-up companies directly – we invite all policy-makers to get in touch for more information to help their consideration of this vitally important legislation.
