Digital services package

At the Competitiveness Council, member states reached a compromise on a common 'general approach' to the two draft regulations that make up the EU's digital services package - the DSA (Digital Services Act) and the DMA (Digital Markets Act). The agreement has been described as historic, not only because of the Council's determination to agree on a common text in such a short space of time, but more importantly because of the potential of both acts to shape the digital market, both within and outside the European Union.   The draft of both regulations agreed by the Council will be subject to further negotiations in the so-called trilogue procedure with the European Commission and the European Parliament. According to the head of the Ministry of Development and Technology, the regulation on digital markets DMA will be an effective tool to support fair competition in the single European market, which will help prevent unfair practices. It will also contribute to guaranteeing fair conditions for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the digital economy who use access gatekeepers to offer their products and services through them.  

As Minister Piotr Nowak stressed:

"It is particularly important to create adequate supervision over the activities of platforms and an effective mechanism for enforcing the regulation. In this aspect, the key role should be played by the Commission in cooperation with the relevant authorities in the Member States. Such a compromise has been reached. It is also crucial that the responsibilities of platforms as gatekeepers are properly defined. In this respect, the compromise provisions on the regulatory dialogue mechanism will help ensure legal certainty on the steps taken by gatekeepers to implement DMA obligations."

At the same time, Minister Piotr Nowak pointed out that the compromise text could be improved at a further stage of the negotiations, particularly with regard to the quantitative indicators for the appointment of access gatekeepers and their duties.

In discussing the draft DSA, Minister Nowak noted:

 "I would like to express Poland's support for adopting a general approach to the draft DSA. At the same time, I emphasise that it is crucial for us to ensure that the adopted regulations protect users' rights, which guarantee their freedom of expression and access to information, as well as to ensure effective enforcement capabilities. We have therefore made a statement pointing out the essential elements to be taken into account during further negotiations. In our view, preserving these elements will allow to reach a satisfactory compromise during the upcoming inter-institutional negotiations.”

  Poland's statement contains demands concerning, inter alia:

• the balance between the protection of freedom of expression and the need to remove illegal content from the Internet,  
• appropriate involvement of regulators from the Member States where the recipient of the service is located,
• clearly defined channels for bilateral communication between large platforms and search engines and authorities from all Member States,  
• provisions clarifying that the DSA is without prejudice to the right of recipients of a service to challenge a decision before the courts or administrative authorities of the country where they are established, resident or habitually resident, in accordance with the applicable law of that country.

Ministers also discussed the role of the Recovery Plan for Europe in the context of the implementation of the European Union's industrial strategy. Minister Piotr Nowak stated that the Recovery Plan for Europe is "an important tool for the effective implementation of the green and digital transformation. It is also an instrument to rebuild industrial ecosystems and strengthen European value chains. One of the solutions to broken supply chains is to shorten them by producing the products needed locally - in EU countries. This requires a strong research and development base. As a rule, national recovery plans include substantial resources for the R&D necessary to build strong economies based on modern, environmentally friendly industry.”

Meeting with EC Vice-President Margarete Vestager

During the conversation with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margarete Vestager, Minister Nowak raised, among others, the issues of the IPCEI mechanism ('Important projects of common European interest') and the revision of the EU competition policy, in connection with the - recently published by the European Commission - 'Communication on Competition Policy - ready for new challenges'. It highlights the important role of competition policy on Europe's path to sustainable economic recovery, green and digital transformation and a resilient single market.  

"We welcome the Commission's objective of adapting competition rules to today's challenges. We share the conviction that we need a competition policy today that supports the EU's desire to maintain control and sovereignty in value chains, which are key to achieving its strategic objectives. Poland has consistently supported measures to foster fair competition in the internal market.The new state aid rules should provide a clear and appropriate framework to fairly achieve climate neutrality and facilitate digital transformation. Therefore, we need to find the right balance in supporting the right types of investments while ensuring the right level of aid to stimulate innovation and the introduction of new climate-friendly technologies, Minister Nowak added.”

Meeting with Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton

Minister Piotr Nowak's conversation with EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton covered strategic autonomy, new technologies, the semiconductor deficit in the market and IPCEI projects, among other topics.   

"Our experience with the IPCEI instrument is very good. IPCEI is an essential instrument for strengthening technological sovereignty in critical sectors in the area of green and digital transformation. However, it should be used in situations where there are market failures and the market itself cannot deliver disruptive innovation. The microelectronics and semiconductor project is an excellent example of how IPCEI can be used usefully to build the necessary competencies in key strategic technology areas. Today we all agree that we need European investment in semiconductor manufacturing. They will allow us to strengthen the competitiveness not only of the European electronics manufacturing industry, but also of all industries based on these components - said Minister of Economic Development and Technology Piotr Nowak