In a lengthy position paper, dated 3 July, regarding the forthcoming ‘omnibus’ legislation on digital simplification, AmCham EU, the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, asserts that it is a staunch defender of simplification and that the EU must adopt an approach that strikes a balance between “competitiveness”, “harmonisation among EU Member States’ laws” and respect for “technological openness”.
Revision of the cybersecurity regulation, harmonisation of the EU taxonomy, introduction of a one-stop shop for alerts and reporting, streamlining of the various data laws and removal of their “obsolete” provisions... In its paper, AmCham EU wants the Commission to coordinate its various approaches to regulating the digital landscape in order to arrive at a clarified, less “restrictive” landscape.
In terms of cybersecurity, the Chamber of Commerce is particularly concerned to see the return of sovereignty requirements for the ‘European Cybersecurity Certification Scheme’ (EUCS), which had been pushed by France to protect itself from extraterritorial laws on sensitive issues relating to the ‘cloud’ (see EUROPE 13458/15).
The American Chamber of Commerce believes that these “discriminatory” criteria will “only raise costs, limit choice for European users and damage the EU’s competitiveness”.
With regard to the AI Act, AmCham EU reiterates the call by several major European companies for a moratorium on the application of certain obligations of the regulation (see EUROPE 13673/15).
“The simplification package should accordingly propose that high-risk requirements become applicable only 12 months after relevant standards are published”, it says. “Such an approach would provide greater predictability and adequate time for adaptation, fostering innovation”, says AmCham EU.
As for the directive on AI liability, it calls for its outright withdrawal (see EUROPE 13644/12).
The digital simplification package is expected in November. It could also include a targeted reopening of the data protection regulation (see EUROPE 13665/19) and parts of the AI Act (see EUROPE 13655/3).
See the paper: https://aeur.eu/f/hri (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)