Commission plans initiatives in the domain of virtual worlds, mobility and online piracy

The European Commission flagged 43 new policy initiatives in its 2023 Work Programme published on 18 October, which spanned six of the headline ambitions of President von der Leyen’s priorities for the period 2019-2024.

This Work Programme sets out a list of new initiatives for the coming year and is designed to inform the public and co-legislators (Council and the European Parliament) about its policy intentions.

Six headline ambitions include the following:

• A European Green Deal
• A Europe fit for the digital age
• An economy that works for people
• A stronger Europe in the world
• Promoting our European way of life
• A new push for European democracy

This article addresses policy areas such as tech and media, and therefore, we focus on initiatives under the scope of ‘A Europe Fit for the Digital Age’.

A Europe Fit for the Digital Age

As part of the acceleration to make green and digital transitions, the initiatives that fall under “A Europe fit for the Digital Age” are designed to offer digital solutions to make the economy more efficient, as well as make such mechanisms accessible and available to European citizens.

Some of the single proposals include:

• Virtual worlds

The Commission will propose tools to develop open, human-centric digital worlds, such as metaverses. According to the Commission, metaverses provide a myriad of possibilities for industries and service sectors to address broader social challenges such as health care and smart cities. This non-legislative initiative aims to plant a regulatory stake in virtual ground to create safe and thriving metaverses.

The Work Programme states that the initiative is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023.

• Patent licensing package

A patent licensing package will be proposed which will comprise both a compulsory licensing of patents legislative initiative and a standard essential patents initiative, which will have binding and non-binding components. According to the Commission, the framework will target patent licensing to reflect the interest of the patent holders and implementers, as well as establish rules for the compulsory licensing of patents in certain circumstances.

A public consultation for the revision of the framework on compulsory licensing of patents in the EU was already launched in July 2022, with the Commission inviting responses from stakeholders, including IP rights holders, users, lawyers and IP offices.

The patent licensing package is aimed for by mid-2023.

• Mobility package

A mobility package is under preparation for the first half of next year, which will include a common European mobility data space, one of the sectorial data spaces of the EU’s data strategy. There are also plans for an EU regulatory framework for hyperloop systems with a legislative initiative for the third quarter of 2023. Regarding the latter, the legal basis will be the common rules for intra-EU transport.

In addition, the Commission will propose a common European mobility data space to boost the digitalisation of the mobility sector and encourage innovative solutions. This includes an EU regulatory framework for hyperloop transport solutions.

• Online Piracy

Following up on the European Parliament Resolution under article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Commission will propose a Recommendation on piracy of live content, offering a toolbox to fight the illegal streaming of live events, in particular sporting events. The Commission fears that live content piracy and illegal streaming could increase as the cost of living is rising.

A non-legislative recommendation on the piracy of live content is planned for the second quarter of 2023.

The fact that the initiative will be non-binding has disappointed rightsholders, who had been calling for a stronger legal instrument addressing the piracy of live events. In October, more than 100 rightsholders, organisations and media groups coordinated to demand action from the EU.

Next steps

These proposals and initiatives will be rolled out in the course of 2023 and we will continue to monitor developments closely.

If you have questions about the 2023 Work Programme or any of the planned proposals, Bird & Bird is ready to help you to advise you regarding the potential impact on your business.

For further information, please contact Julia Klingberg