The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has hosted two events in Alicante related to the fight against live event piracy: (1) the fourth meeting of the Dedicated Network of administrative authorities on live event piracy, and (2) the Conference – Stepping up the fight against online piracy of sport and other live events – […]

The second report published by Grant Thornton, carried out in partnership with the Live Content Coalition – a group of representatives of leading European live content producers, broadcasters, and exhibitors – demonstrates no discernible impact of the European Commission’s Recommendation of May 4th 2023 on combating of sports and other live events. It clearly indicates […]

The European Commission has announced grant agreements totalling €128 million to support 31 new 5G infrastructure projects, following the third call for proposals of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Digital). This adds to the €93 million already committed to finance 35 projects for 5G under the first two CEF Digital calls, for a total of […]

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Dorna Sports by Liberty Media. The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction could lead to higher prices for the licensing of broadcasting rights for motorsports events hosted by both parties. Liberty Media and Dorna Sports […]

The European Commission’s new head of its Defence & Space (DG DEFIX) portfolio has started work. Andrius Kubilius, the former prime minister of Lithuania, assumed office on December 1st. He will work under Ursula von der Leyen who is the continuing president of the Commission. Commissioner Kubilius held a staff meeting on Dec 1 and […]

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom under the foreign subsidies regulation in a deal worth €8 billion. Swisscom, the Switzerland-based telco, plans to merge Vodafone Italia with Fastweb, its subsidiary in Italy. “Swisscom has been operating successfully in Italy since the acquisition of Fastweb in 2007. Over this period, […]

Thierry Breton has resigned from his role as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services in a public dispute with EU Commission president Ursula von der Layen. One source claims he was fired. Breton was also responsible for Europe’s Space & Defence portfolios. Breton, who has held the role since 2019, was vice-chairman and CEO […]

The European Commission (EC) has raised press freedom concerns after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government was accused of interfering with Italian public broadcaster Rai and silencing critical voices. Věra Jourová, the European Commission vice-president overseeing values and transparency, warned of a funding squeeze and alleged “intimidation” of journalists after unveiling an annual report on the […]

As artificial intelligence continues to develop at speed, the European Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the US Federal Trade Commission and US Department of Justice have signed a joint statement setting out shared principles to protect competition and consumers. The statement affirms their shared view that AI, particularly powerful foundation models, has […]

Telco giant Vodafone is calling for a new Connectivity Union to help accelerate Europe’s digital ambitions and unleash its ability to compete on a global scale. It says that Europe’s future economic success will be underpinned by next-generation connectivity. Only through 5G standalone will European businesses be able to fully capitalise on the industrial value […]