Inline Insights

A new report by the European Commission sets out recommendations for how EU competition policy should be reformed, drawing on concerns of Governments and senior politicians. With the debate moving beyond economic theory to become increasingly political, it’s one that all companies in the tech sector will need to keep an eye on.

Rapid technological transformations driven by US and Chinese companies are posing a serious challenge to Europe's policymakers. Third way politics looks set to shape much of the regulatory response.

The coming year is set to be an important period for online platforms in Europe. Having previously paid little regard to online platforms, EU policymakers are now laying the foundations for a more definitive approach to regulating this growing sector of the economy.

The EU’s Member States have failed to agree on the introduction of a tax on revenues from digital services. But pressure from the European Commission, European Parliament and EU citizens indicate that this is not an issue that is going to disappear any time soon.

What is the EU's new Platform-to-Business (P2B) regulation? With this short presentation, Inline Policy sheds the light on the proposed new European rules to govern the activity of intermediary online platforms, outlining their key provisions and the positons of the main EU institutions, as well as providing some insight on what is to be expected in the next upcoming months.

Governments and regulators are actively considering how competition policy should respond to the growth of the digital economy. A forthcoming report from the European Parliament provides an insight into the state of the debate in Brussels.

While discussions continue on the European Commission’s proposals for a harmonised Digital Services Tax, a number of different approaches to taxing online service providers and platforms is emerging across Europe.  With the UK the latest EU country to consider going it alone, we look at who is proposing what when it comes to digital services taxes.

The UK Government has engaged a panel to review competition in digital markets, and one of the key themes is the concentration of 'big tech'. With the panel tasked with consulting industry and reporting by early 2019, companies seeking to influence the panel's thinking need to get started as soon as possible.

As Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) comes under increased scrutiny by European policymakers, Inline has created a guide to key developments on monitoring, research, infrastructure, and standards impacting the industry.

Innovation in the tech sector is moving at a rapid pace, and the companies driving these innovations are increasingly facing political and regulatory hurdles. A public affairs agency can help companies monitor trends in politics and regulation that may affect their business.

Policy and regulation can have a significant impact on companies in the tech sector, in terms of both their operations and their growth prospects. Keeping abreast of political and regulatory trends will help companies to spot potential threats or opportunities early on.

Jeremy Wright MP has big shoes to fill, succeeding an unquestionably pro-technology Secretary of State for Digital, but might his lack of previous interest in the sector actually be a good thing for the tech industry?

Breaking up big tech has become the argument of choice by those concerned about the concentration of power and the practices of large multinationals dominating the digital sphere. But does it make sense?

MEPs ask thousands of questions to the European Commission each year and during the 2009-2014 term of the European Parliament, over 10,000 questions were tabled. At Inline, our job is to cut through the noise, so here are the five most important questions for the tech sector in 2018.

The world’s youngest leader, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, will take the helm of the Council of the EU in July and the headlines will be dominated by his plans to toughen EU immigration policy. Behind the scenes Austria’s Digital Minister, Margarete Schramböck, will be pushing ahead towards agreement on the Commission’s package of proposals in the digital sector.

As Mark Zuckerberg takes his seat to answer questions for the first time in the European Parliament, it is a good time to take stock of the EU's Digital Single Market Strategy, assess its successes, and consider the new regulations and policy proposals coming from the European Commission.

In a modern world that is churning out technological innovations in sectors that did not even exist 20 years ago, many people will have common conceptions of what constitutes ‘disruptive technology’: the rise of robots, smart cities and self-driving cars. And yet, equally disruptive are the technologies that are developing within sectors that have prospered for centuries.

Another day, another report on artificial intelligence? Not quite. 

Published today, the 180-page volume by the House of Lords’ Select Committee is more than just the latest contribution to the emerging debate about the opportunities and challenges of AI. Led by experienced lawyers such as Baron Clement-Jones and renowned scholars like Lord Anthony Giddens, former director of the London School of Economics, it might well prove influential both in the UK and beyond.

Are large online businesses paying their fair share of tax? This was the question debated on Tuesday 27 March by MPs in Westminster Hall, the small debating chamber in Parliament.