The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) participated in a consultation of the European Commission commenting on the recently proposed regulations on Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) and calling on the EU to make sure that fundamental rights of all people are respected.
(Credit: European Commission)
COMECE welcomed the two proposals for regulations, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), adopted as part of the same package by the European Commission on 15 December 2020.
In the context of the rapidly evolving digital market and of its acceleration due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission adopted the DSA-DMA package to make sure that rules remain fair for both businesses using online platforms and for their consumers, to protect the fundamental rights of all users of digital services, and to “to establish a level playing field to foster innovation, growth, and competitiveness, both in the European Single Market and globally”, as explained by the European Commission.
COMECE acknowledged several positive provisions in the legislative proposal, such as the emphasis on the protection of children and other vulnerable people from illegal content, and the increased protection of smaller actors (SMEs) to support fair competition and innovation.
In its contribution, COMECE calls on the EU institutions to set up clear procedures, and procedural safeguards of transparency of algorithmic processes and to safeguard the dignity of platform workers while reconciling digital progress with the care of our common home.
According to COMECE, while online platforms bring significant benefits for consumers and innovation to boost the European Union’s internal market, “they could cause negative effects, such as the exchange and trade of illegal goods, services and online contents, that might also affect children, and the misuse of algorithmic systems that could develop potentially negative human rights impacts”.
In this context, the COMECE contribution also includes a list of 14 recommendations addressed to the European Commission to make sure that fundamental rights of all people are respected.
