European Union

A European Commission plan to push WiFi as the technology of choice for connected cars over 5G is proving to be controversial. EU transport chief Violeta Bulc told EURACTIV in an interview that saving lives is the most important factor and WiFi is the only proven option.

The North Macedonia name change deal, also known as Prespa Agreement, helped diminish Turkey’s influence in the country and simultaneously upgrade Athens’s role in the Balkan region, Greek business chief Konstantinos Michalos told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

Europe needs its own ‘Green New Deal’ to stave off the perfect storm of populism, climate change and economic crisis. Instead, the EU has adopted confused energy and environment policies which could be self-defeating in the long run, writes Vincente Lopez.

The European Parliament on Tuesday (17 April) overwhelmingly voted for rules aimed at protecting whistleblowers from reprisals following corporate scandals such as Dieselgate and Cambridge Analytica.

Under an icy rain, camouflage-clad Swedish soldiers crouched behind a log pile, aimed their machine guns towards the Baltic Sea and, at their officers' barked orders, opened fire down the snow-covered range.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2019/468 of 21 March 2019 amending Decision 2011/172/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Egypt

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2019/351 of 4 March 2019 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria.

Written by Mihalis Kritikos,

Asking ‘Is artificial intelligence a human rights issue?’, the workshop co-organised by STOA with the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on 20 March 2019, gathered academic experts, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), practitioners and representatives of international organisations to share their perspectives on exactly how artificial intelligence (AI) affects the protection and enjoyment of human rights. Despite the speakers’ diverse experiences, there was a consensus that AI poses a wide range of new risks for human rights that need to be addressed immediately. The panellists also agreed that there are no established methodologies yet to track the effects on human rights and to assess the potential for discrimination in the use of machine learning.

The workshop opened with a welcome address from STOA Chair Eva Kaili (S&D, Greece), who highlighted that the workshop followed up on the recently adopted European Parliament resolution on a comprehensive European industrial policy on artificial intelligence and robotics, and that its conclusions should feed into efforts to shape a socio-ethical framework for a human-centric approach to AI. She also emphasised the need to assess the capacity of the current universal human rights and EU ethical frameworks, to confront emerging governance challenges when it comes to the deployment and application of AI, and argued that Europe has the opportunity to shape the direction of AI, at least from a socio-ethical perspective.

Following the Chair’s remarks, the first panel kicked-off with Ekkehard Ernst, Chief Macroeconomist at the International Labour Organization analysing the four AI inequality challenges. He argued that AI intellectual property rights should be addressed as a way to decrease the unsustainable concentration of data and AI development in the hands of a few mega-corporations. Representing the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Joanna Goodey, Head of the Research and Data Unit, presented the work of FRA in this field, highlighting that the protection of human dignity should be prioritised and arguing that use of AI in the area of law enforcement can lead to discrimination. Dimitris Panopoulos, Co-founder of Suite5 Data Intelligence Solutions, presented the initial findings of the EU-funded project ChildRescue – Collective Awareness Platform for Missing Children Investigation and Rescue, emphasising that AI can also be used to protect the human rights of vulnerable population groups such as children.

Click to view slideshow.

The second panel, which was moderated by Marietje Schaake (ALDE, the Netherlands) focused on the impacts of AI on human rights through the presentation of real life case-studies. The first panellist, Silkie Carlo, Chief Executive of Big Brother Watch, shared her experience of working on real case studies in the United Kingdom that undermine the protection of the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination. She highlighted that flaws in biometric facial recognition used by the Police in the UK can lead to misleading judgments, especially for minorities and women, and recommended that decisions that engage individuals’ human rights must never be purely automated. Lorena Jaume-Palasi, founder of the Ethical Tech Society a non-profit organisation analysing and evaluating processes of automation and digitisation regarding their social relevance, noted that it is not the technology itself, but its use that matters and argued for the need for more reflective oversight structures. In her presentation, she called for a paradigm shift in our approach towards information platforms’ terms of operation and in the principles and values that determine the access to platforms and the degree of their commercial character.

Lofred Madzou, Project Lead, AI & Machine Learning at the World Economic Forum, presented the work of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and analysed the policy concerns associated with AI, such as the erosion of privacy, algorithmic bias and the abuse of surveillance that could, in his opinion, ‘affect our rights to stand up and protest if AI remains unregulated’. Marietje Schaake noted that algorithmic oversight for AI is urgently needed and that it is essential to ensure that the process of embedding ethical principles and values in AI-based decision-making systems is transparent and inclusive.

The third panel focused on the possible measures and remedies for safeguarding the protection of human rights in the context of AI. The panel was moderated by Michał BONI (EPP, Poland), who noted that Member States are gradually adopting their national AI strategies, but that this could lead to regulatory fragmentation. He therefore argued for the need for ethical certainty and stability for AI. Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe of TU Delft and Member of the High-Level Expert Group on AI, presented the preliminary results of the ongoing STOA study on a new ethical framework for AI. She noted that context and practice matter in our ethical analysis of AI, and recommended the introduction of data hygiene certification, ethics impact assessment and accountability reports. Fanny Hidvegi of Access Now and Member of the High-Level Expert Group on AI, presented a case study examining the use of AI-powered facial recognition tools for law enforcement purposes and recommended the adoption of strict standards for government use of AI. She emphasised that the design, development and deployment of AI and any AI-assisted technologies must be individual-centric and respect human rights. Can Yeginsu a Barrister with 4 New Square Chambers, noted that we do not yet have the potential to leave AI without any human intervention, and may need to ensure individual access to justice and even consider the establishment of an AI ombudsman to handle individual complaints associated with the use/misuse of AI.

Following the panel presentations, the audience raised several interesting questions, in particular regarding how to establish connections between AI, consent, surveillance and human rights, as well as whether the various EU-level ongoing or planned policy initiatives (such as the ethics guidelines for trustworthy artificial intelligence produced by the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on AI, the Commission communication on artificial intelligence for Europe, and the European Parliament resolution on a comprehensive European industrial policy on artificial intelligence and robotics), are sufficient to safeguard a human rights lens in the governance of AI. In response, the panellists advocated an ethics-by-design approach that will facilitate the embedding of values such as transparency and explainability in AI development. They also noted that legally binding norms are needed in the field of AI-based decision-making processes, rather than soft-law instruments, and that EU legislators should consider the possibility of integrating a requirement for systematic human rights impact assessments, or even developing new legal mechanisms for redress/remedy for human rights violations resulting from AI.

If you missed out this time, you can access the presentations and watch the webstream of the workshop via the STOA events page.

MEPs backed an EU law to protect whistleblowers from retaliation in both the public and private sectors. EU states will have two years to transpose the directive.

Swedish 16-year old activist called on MEPs to "panic" and questioned why they had emergency summits on Brexit, but not on climate change.

The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told MEPs in Strasbourg that Israeli settlements are eroding any prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. She noted that Israeli authorities last week had given the green light for another 4,600 housing units. "The two-state solution is not only fading away, it is being dismantled piece by piece," she said.

If the race for the EU's top job this summer really comes down to a choice between Manfred Weber and Michel Barnier, the outcome might still surprise us.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party on Tuesday (16 April) submitted its promised appeal for the annulment and rerun of Istanbul’s municipal elections, over what it said were irregularities that marred the March 31 vote.

Le Pen's party is no longer making calls to exit the EU or abandon the euro. Instead, the party is attempting to renew itself with a nationalist but locally anchored narrative. EURACTIV France reports.

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, made an impassioned plea for the planet at the European Parliament on Tuesday (16 April), urging MEPs to “start panicking about climate change” rather than "waste time arguing about Brexit".

Several EU member states, including France, have chosen to implement laws that would allow the trading of energy saving certificates, an important shift towards saving energy.

Energy saving certificates, or white certificates, were meant to be the answer to France’s slow progress in reducing energy consumption. However, there is far more demand than supply, resulting in a surge in prices of certificates, which have more than doubled in a year. EURACTIV France reports.

In Strasbourg, President Donald Tusk expressed EU solidarity with the French nation in the aftermath of the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral and addressed the plenary session of the European Parliament on the European Council discussions on the Brexit extension.

Plenary session, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Later this autumn, on 2-3 October 2019, EDA will organise a Workshop on Medical Treatment Facilities (MTF) and Telemedicine in order to support and facilitate future Multinational Medical Modular Unit (M3U) capability development and to foster and establish a dialogue with industry.

The main objective of the workshop will be to identify requirements for development of new MTF and telemedicine solutions as well as advanced products and services within two specific areas:

• Field hospitals for future CSDP operations. The ambition is to look for new systems to realize or provide cost-effective solutions for new generations of MTF in order to support collaborative development of a multinational deployable field hospital capability - ROLE 2 Basic Highly Mobile (Role 3). The workshop will allow the concrete discussions on the way ahead and on how national requirements can be harmonised with a view to moving towards procurement.
• Telemedicine. The main focus here is on IT and advanced technology solutions starting at the point of injury (POI) and continuing through the military medical chain up to developing complete solutions, medical equipment and material development applicable to surgery, resuscitation and diagnostics as well as on computers and robots able to perform telemedicine within MTF.
   

Questionnaire

In order to prepare the workshop and to ensure an objective and balanced discussion, EDA invites industry to provide input and express their views and expectations via a special questionnaire prepared by the Agency. The questionnaire has been also distributed via National Defence Industry Associations (NDIAs) and AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD). EDA encourages industry to participate in the survey as this will contribute to ensuring a high-quality workshop.

Industrial representatives will be invited to the workshop to present their products and solutions, and to discuss and share their views on concrete medium and long-term developments. The eligibility and selection criteria for participation are presented in the questionnaire. Submissions will be judged on their innovativeness and relevance as well as ability to stimulate discussion on the future role of Medical support.

Participation in this call for papers is open to companies of any size as well as academic, semi-governmental research institutes and associations or grouping of industrial suppliers.
 

How to submit 

• The questionnaire can be uploaded here
• Send your response to the questionnaire to CAP@eda.europa.eu, with a copy to Daniel.PETRILAK@eda.europa.eu; 
• Deadline for submissions is 22 May 2019.
  
  

More information: 

• Medical Support (EDA project page);