This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Meeting between Filomena Chirico and ITI'.



Ref. Ares(2021)7437386 - 02/12/2021
BTO - Meeting between ITI and CAB Breton
02/02/2021
Participants ITI (Information Technology Industry Council)
 
Participants European Commission
Filomena Chirico, Member of Cabinet
 CNECT.G1 - note-taker
 
DMA/DSA
ITI represents 75 international tech companies, including European ones. They emphasised that due
to scalability, EU-based large global corporations cannot succeed without access to global markets.
They are concerned about localisations and closed internet, applied by certain countries. They
support openness. Regarding the DMA, it has been suggested that COM should focus on companies'
conduct instead of their size when regulating them, they have some concerns about the current rules
of the proposal. Concerning the DSA, ITI  underlined the need to differentiate between illegal and
harmful content and that focus needs to be on the generator of such content. They stated that now
we have a unique opportunity to focus on the EU-USA relations under the new Biden administration.
The Commission agreed on the importance of openness and the need for cooperation, which
should be based on the dissolutions of misconceptions and misunderstandings that sometimes
are associated with the digital initiatives. It is of utmost importance to rebuild the transatlantic
relationship. The DMA provides for a different treatment for big companies, as their wider reach
constitutes the link between size and conduct. The proposal aims is to prohibit conduct that leaves
no choice for the competitors. The DSA does not aim to regulate harmful content, it only sets up the
framework. The person disseminating such content remains responsible, but the medium should
not generate profit off of it through e.g. advertising. The objective is not to ban or exclude any actor.
 
Data Governance Act
ITI appreciates the goal to make more data available, they want to ensure consistency with current
legislation, and that no measures are put in place to hinder data flows under the concept of data/
technological sovereignty. The mechanisms around data transfers under the Data Governance Act
proposal should apply in an easy and practical manner, the duplication of the adequacy regime would be
problematic and cause administrative burden and delay. They support the replacement of the privacy shield.
The Commission explained that technological sovereignty does not mean isolation, but resilience
and the ability to offer choices. The logic of the DGA is not to block data flows, but to have the
protection to travel with the data, when it comes to the transfer of protected publicly held data. The
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BTO - Meeting between ITI and CAB Breton 02/02/2021
mechanism provided for in the proposal would ensure that, based on the data re-users commitments,
the flow of such data would remain unhindered, while adequacy-like decisions could be adopted to
streamline the procedure where it would be necessary due to the large volume of such data transfers.
 
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