EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VI

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. EXPLOSIVE GROWTH IN THE NUMBER AND COMPLEXITY OF EU ‘DIGITAL’ LAWS 4

3. DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY, OPEN STRATEGIC AUTONOMY, AND INDUSTRIAL POLICY 9

4. COMPETITION AND THE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD: THE DIGITAL MARKETS ACT 12

  4.1. IS IT TOO EARLY TO JUDGE EFFECTIVENESS, AND WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? 13

  4.2. ARE GATEKEEPERS CHANGING THEIR BEHAVIOUR, AND IS COMPLIANCE GENUINE? 15

  4.3. ENFORCEMENT CLARITY, COMPLIANCE KPIS, AND THE LIMITS OF DIALOGUE 16

  4.4. NON-DISCRIMINATION IN DESIGN, DISCRIMINATORY IN EFFECT? 17

  4.5. UNINTENDED EFFECTS: PROPORTIONALITY, PRIVACY, SMES, AND THE INNOVATION TRADE-OFF 18

  4.6. INTERACTIONS WITH COMPETITION LAW, OTHER INSTRUMENTS, AND GENERATIVE AI 19

  4.7. INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF DIGITAL REGULATORS? 20

  4.8. DATA ACCESS AND THE ROLE OF VETTED RESEARCHERS 21

5. FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS: THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT 22

  5.1. ENFORCEMENT FRAGMENTATION AND THE DIGITAL SERVICES COORDINATORS 23

  5.2. MEASURING WHAT MATTERS: TRANSPARENCY AND CONTENT-MODERATION OUTCOMES 24

  5.3. AUDIT STANDARDS AND RESEARCHER DATA ACCESS 25

  5.4. COMPLIANCE COSTS, SMES, OVERLAPS, AND DEFINITIONAL SPILLOVER 26

6. THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACT 27

  6.1. THE RISK-BASED APPROACH AND ITS CRITICS 28

  6.2. SIMPLIFICATION, GUIDANCE, AND THE SECTORAL DIMENSION 28

  6.3. GUIDANCE WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION, AND THE EXPERTISE GAP 29

  6.4. GOVERNANCE, STANDARDS, AND THE GENERAL-PURPOSE AI CODE OF PRACTICE 30

  6.5. AI AND LIABILITY 30

  6.6. SIMPLIFICATION IN PRACTICE: THE DIGITAL OMNIBUS AND THE STREAMLINING OF THE ACT 31

7. PRIVACY, CYBERSECURITY, AND DATA SHARING 33

  7.1. PRIVACY: THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION AND DIGITAL OMNIBUS 34

  7.2. MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE SHARING OF DATA 38

  7.3. CYBERSECURITY 39

8. THE BETTER REGULATION PROCESS: CREATING, EVALUATING, IMPROVING, AND SIMPLIFYING EU LAWS AND REGULATION 44

  8.1. EX ANTE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 47

  8.2. EX POST EVALUATIONS 51

  8.3. SIMPLIFICATION OF THE OVERALL STOCK OF EU LAWS AND REGULATIONS 53

  8.4. SINGLE MARKET ASPECTS OF SIMPLIFICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION 57

REFERENCES 61

APPENDIX A. TASK FORCE PARTICIPANTS 68

APPENDIX B. PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE TASK FORCE 70