The Parliament is looking to increase its role in implementing digital policy, MEPs say

The European Parliament has had a traditionally limited role in implementing the regulations it ratifies, but in the next mandate, some lawmakers are keen to change that when it comes to digital policy.

Digital policy implementation is a top priority for legislators and regulators over the next mandate, following several new acts coming into force over the past five years. Just last week, Euractiv reported that MEPs were discussing setting up a group to monitor the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act.

Parliament’s role, according to Andrea Renda, director of research at Brussels-based think tank CEPS in June, is a “vacuum” with little power when it comes to implementation.

Some parts of the EU’s digital rulebook, like the Digital Markets Act (DMA), leave enforcement up to the Commission, whose work can be subject to a European Court of Auditors or Ombudsman report.

Others, like the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), leave enforcement to national authorities, which the Parliament does not supervise.

However, MEPs may try to increase their role in overseeing the Commission’s implementation work.

“I think we have to be on top of it,” Dutch Greens MEP Kim van Sparrentak, re-elected in June, told Euractiv last month when asked about the Parliament’s role in implementation.

Her colleague Stephanie Yon-Courtin (France, Renew) acknowledged that the Parliament has not followed implementation closely so far, but it should.

In her political priorities for the next Commission, the re-elected president of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said commissioners will be required to produce annual progress reports for Parliament committees.

Political scrutiny

Van Sparrentak said that scrutinising the Commission is one way for the Parliament to monitor how regulations are implemented.

While the Commission is implementing and enforcing the recently established digital rulebook, the Parliament has to ensure         it “checks on” the Commission, she said.

Van Sparrentak added that to scrutinise the Commission, MEPs must evaluate its work and hold hearings with executive officials.

The monitoring group under discussion for the AI Act would perform this function while similar groups already exist for the DSA and DMA.

The Greens MEP was one of three parliamentarians who sent formal questions in April to the Commission about how the AI office is staffed but has not yet received a response.

Van Sparrentak was also among six MEPs, including S&D’s Brando’s Benifei, who asked the Commission about the drafting of codes of practice for general-purpose AI under the AI Act, according to a letter seen by Euractiv.

It turned out the codes will be primarily drafted by the companies themselves, with civil society involved through a consultation.

In its response, the Commission reiterated that a call for expressions of interest for civil society to be involved would be published soon, in line with what it had previously told Euractiv.

The role of research

Another way in which the Parliament could keep tabs on the commission is through conducting its own research.

The three main EU institutions – Commission, Parliament, and Council – reached an agreement in 2016 to review the impact of policies, Renda told Euractiv, adding that the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Lawmaking never took off, which may play into the Parliament’s wish to engage in overseeing implementation.

“There’s a lot of willingness to move away from something that never worked.”

Under the agreement, the Parliament could launch ex-post studies “that look at the interactive, cumulative impacts of” digital legislation in the next few years through its Research Service to guide implementation, he said.

In her political priorities, von der Leyen also called for the renewal of the agreement.

These studies by the Parliamentary Research Service could be launched early next year, said Renda.

In this context, he said, “these studies might become more salient when it comes to setting and relaunching the priorities” in light of the Commission’s mid-term review.

[Edited by Alice Taylor/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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