Euronews Digital Summer: New head of consumer group has AI, telco regulations in sights

Consumer rule will use to AI-powered products, but AI did not beryllium erstwhile it was created, a spread that is foremost among concerns of Agustín Reyna, nan caller Director General of EU user organisation BEUC told Euronews successful nan latest of our integer summertime series. Digital laws proliferated nether nan past instruction of nan European Commission, led by nan Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, and nan Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager. What effect person these laws had connected online consumers? Has user protection been adequately considered during nan drafting process, and are they being enforced properly?

 Reyna took connected nan head generalship of BEUC June -after starting astatine nan organisation arsenic an intern 14 years ago. BEUC defends user authorities crossed a wide scope of topics: from integer to power and from financial services to healthcare, and besides plays a cardinal domiciled successful high-profile European antitrust cases, notably against Big Tech.

Euronews: Your predecessor (Reyna took complete from Monique Goyens successful June 2024) was head of BEUC for almost 2 decades. How will your activity disagree from hers?

Agustín Reyna: I wouldn't alteration overmuch successful position of management, but I will accommodate to nan caller governmental scenery we request to navigate. With nan results of nan European elections, a caller European Commission, and changes crossed personnel states, we must reconsider our procedures arsenic an organisation. We now person a European Parliament that leans much to nan correct and is much diverse, making it harder to scope compromises. 

Euronews: What are your priorities for nan adjacent mandate?

Agustín Reyna: Our attraction is connected unfinished business. There are respective ongoing issues that request to beryllium addressed. For example, successful nan integer sector, there's a important accent connected implementation and enforcement. However, location are besides areas wherever further action is required, specified arsenic updating user rule pinch nan integer refit.

A important facet of user protection is empowering nan Commission to enforce user law. Currently, we person nan Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which supports user authorities. However, we still deficiency centralised powers to enactment against companies that break user laws. We request a strategy comparable to nan enforcement mechanisms we person successful title law, arsenic seen pinch the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA).

Euronews: What is nan position of nan digital fairness check, which is meant to measure nan protection of consumers online?

Agustín Reyna: This illustration illustrates really BEUC actively engages pinch nan Commission. We began by rethinking user protection successful nan integer era, conducting thorough studies and collaborating intimately pinch nan Commission. The Commission past decided to transportation retired a refit cheque to measure whether nan existent user directives request to beryllium adapted to reside caller challenges. We expect a study summarising nan results to beryllium published soon. This study will supply indications connected whether location will beryllium a connection successful nan adjacent Commission.

The result could lead to amendments to nan Unfair Commercial Practices Directive aliases nan Unfair Contract Terms Directive, aliases moreover nan preamble of a caller Digital Fairness Act. This would complement nan existing measures nether nan DMA and nan DSA, filling successful nan gaps.

Euronews: What are nan priorities successful position of Artificial Intelligence?

Agustín Reyna: When considering AI and nan AI Act, nan cardinal attraction is connected ensuring capable protections for mundane user products powered by AI. The AI Act adopts a risk-based approach, listing immoderate products and prohibiting definite practices, specified arsenic societal scoring. However, galore user products autumn extracurricular its scope.

Consumer rule betterment and nan ongoing integer refit play a important domiciled here. While user rule will use to AI-powered products, it was not primitively designed pinch AI successful mind. We request to reside gaps successful user protection that nan AI Act does not cover. For example, we must see really to modulate AI applications for illustration ChatGPT aliases AI-driven user assistance.

Euronews: There is an AI Liability Act on nan way, meant to protect group from faults caused by AI. Are you pursuing its progress?

Agustín Reyna: Yes, we are monitoring it closely. It’s important to see not only really AI exertion is designed and nan user protection mechanisms successful spot but besides what happens erstwhile things spell wrong. 

The AI Liability Act is still successful its early stages. We are waiting to spot really it will advancement pinch nan caller Parliament, who nan MEPs moving connected it will be, and what nan last connection will look like. 

Euronews: On nan DMA and DSA, you've been very active, for illustration pinch nan lawsuit of nan Chinese online level Temu. Are location different complaints you’re presently looking at?

Agustín Reyna: This remains a precocious privilege for us. We person been contributing to nan DMA processes passim its take and are intimately monitoring nan situation. It’s encouraging that nan Commission has now initiated these investigations, arsenic it demonstrates a superior committedness to enforcement. BEUC has a longstanding domiciled successful influencing title cases that person contributed to nan improvement of nan DMA, partially because antitrust enforcement often shows its limitations—being excessively slow and excessively case-specific.

Regarding nan DSA, we are approaching it from a different angle, focusing connected information and user protection crossed platforms. We person already revenge our first title against Temu for alleged breaches of nan DSA, and nan European Commission has requested accusation from Temu successful response.

Euronews: Are you collecting grounds against immoderate different platforms?

Agustín Reyna: We are continually monitoring platforms done feedback from our members. Based connected this feedback, we place opportunities to return action. Currently, our attraction has been connected nan cases that are already open. However, we expect that location whitethorn beryllium different cases successful nan future. For example, Temu was not initially designated arsenic a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) erstwhile we revenge our complaint, but we knew they were approaching nan applicable thresholds. Since then, they person been designated and proceedings person been initiated. Similarly, location could beryllium different platforms that mightiness travel nether scrutiny successful nan future.

Euronews: One of nan awesome files for nan adjacent Commission will apt beryllium telecom-related, perchance involving nan Digital Network Act. What is nan user protection position connected this issue?

Agustín Reyna: This is simply a important interest for us. The incumbent telecom manufacture is advocating for what we mention to arsenic marketplace consolidation, fundamentally aiming to summation prices by reducing competition. We powerfully reason this because nan liberalisation of telecom markets has been beneficial for consumers successful Europe. Europeans person enjoyed competitory pricing for net and mobile services, mostly owed to nan pro-competitive model presently successful place. This advancement is now astatine consequence owed to unit from nan telecom industry, which is supported by immoderate politicians arsenic well.