Inline Insights

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is set to establish a concrete list of dos and don’ts for the world’s biggest digital platforms when operating in the EU. These include hitherto absent ‘ex ante’ regulations to provide more fairness in the area of antitrust issues. Quite simply, the DMA aims to level the digital market’s playing field to ensure that smaller firms can operate under fairer competition.

Liz Truss is the new UK Prime Minister. Her premiership is likely to mean broad continuity with the previous government’s tech policy of making the UK a technology superpower, but with a renewed focus following the drift of the last few months of the Johnson premiership. This offers opportunities for tech firms, but they should be alert for a possible deterioration in UK-EU relations. In this blog we explore the impact of the new administration on the key tech policy areas.

The Online Safety Bill is the UK Government’s flagship piece of digital regulation, the British equivalent of the EU’s Digital Services Act. Prior to Boris Johnson’s resignation and the ensuing fallout, there were hopes that the bill would clear the House of Commons before parliamentary recess began on 22 July 2022. However, due to the distractions caused by the Prime Minister’s resignation, the bill still has several parliamentary stages before it becomes law , and could face further revision, depending on which one of Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak becomes the next Prime Minister. In this blog, Inline asks: what next for the Online Safety Bill?

The three EU institutions - Commission, Parliament and Council of the EU - reached a provisional agreement on the Digital Services Act, (DSA) on 22 April 2022. In this briefing we highlight its main provisions and their implications for companies, particularly regarding compliance and future regulatory ramifications.

The European Parliament has resumed its work after the summer break and the 2019-2024 term will include a range of policy areas impacting the digital economy. Download Inline Policy's free updated guide to the new Parliament and the people and issues matter for the tech sector.

Under long-standing EU rules online service providers enjoyed liability exemptions in many instances, but concerns about developments in the digital economy have led the European Commission to question these exemptions and consider new rules.

Data portability rules in GDPR do very little to alter the balance of power in the digital economy. Could a shift to an economy based on data mobility give individuals true control over their personal data, tackle antitrust concerns around big tech, and strengthen workers in the gig economy?

The 2019 European elections mark a pivotal movement for the European Union and the tech sector. Download Inline's free guide to the election results and the implications for the tech sector. 

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.

Inline Policy Founder, Shomik Panda, takes the long view of the regulation of short-term accommodation rental platforms and how the sector is working to become more sustainable.

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.

Inline Policy's Founder Shomik Panda interviewed Richard Stables, the CEO of e-commerce, advertising and price comparison business Kelkoo Group about how e-commerce is changing, the challenges for regulators and the need for a level playing field.

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.

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.

Buried in the detail of a proposed Regulation from the European Commission was the establishment of an Observatory of the online platform economy. It has now been established and has a broad remit but little power, so far. Is this the foundation of a new EU regulator for online platforms?

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 the number of self-employed people continues to rise in the UK, the need to provide support to this growing workforce is becoming increasingly important. But how can access to benefits and protections be improved, without relying on the incumbent employment relationships through which these are traditionally delivered? Emergent WorkerTech technology and applications may be part of the solution.

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.