AfD was informed about possible espionage + EP adopts debt rules + Ursula coalition without Ursula?

Dear reader,

The verbal battle for Europe begins in France. Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D), MEP and candidate of the French Social Democrats for the European elections, will present his vision of Europe – his “Agenda Europe 2030”– at a rally in the city of Strasbourg this evening. He will be supported by Katarina Barley and S&D lead candidate Nicolas Schmit.

According to those close to Glucksmann, his agenda consists of three pillars: ecology, defense and social policy. The aim is to show that the Greens are not the only ones who can talk about the environment and climate and that Emmanuel Macron is not the only one with a vision for Europe.

Seven years after his Sorbonne speech, the President himself will return to the French elite university on Thursday to take stock of the last seven years and present his vision for the European Union over the next five years.

His second Sorbonne speech will once again be about sovereignty, according to the Élysée Palace. For Macron, it is about continuing Europe’s sovereignty, for “a powerful Europe”. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to have been informed of the content of the speech.

Glucksmann’s speech was planned well in advance, while Macron’s is rather unexpected: even if the Élysée denies it, Macron’s speech is the prelude to the European election campaign and is intended to boost the campaign of his candidate Valérie Hayer, who has still not gained momentum. Worse still, she is in danger of losing votes to the eco-socialist Glucksmann.

The two speeches will probably not only present two different visions of Europe, they also exemplify the battle between the two political formations for France’s Europhile center-left voters.

Draghi instead of von der Leyen? Meloni keeps low profile

Italy experts have noticed: The pictures showing the leader of the right-wing conservative Fratelli d’Italia side by side with current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have become rarer. Just recently, Meloni was once again in Tunisia on migration issues – but this time without the lead candidate of the European People’s Party (EPP). The two of them joined forces primarily on the basis of their shared ideas on migration policy.

After the Meloni/von der Leyen women’s duo appeared very close in recent months, the Italian media are now full of completely different speculation: Yes, Meloni’s faction of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) could join the Ursula coalition, as the association of von der Leyen’s supporters in Italy is called. But whether this would require the aforementioned Ursula von der Leyen at the head of the Commission remains to be seen.

New signs of plan around Mario Draghi

Meloni has been courted for months by both Manfred Weber, the leader of the EPP group, and von der Leyen herself. The polls assume that Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia will replace the PiS from Poland as the strongest force within the ECR Group after the election. Bringing the ECR into the coalition of supporters of the Commission President is not only important in terms of numbers. They also want to keep them away from the far right, such as Matteo Salvini’s Lega or the AfD from Germany, who want to unite their ID group with the ECR to form a right-wing nationalist force.

However, the Italian daily newspaper “La Repubblica” is already talking about a concrete plan B. This is said to consist of Meloni throwing Mario Draghi’s name into the ring after the election when the heads of government in the European Council have to agree on a joint proposal for the post of Commission President. And preferably before others do. Economist Draghi worked for years as a central banker, including as President of the ECB. He was Prime Minister of Italy in 2021 and 2022.

The speculation does not seem unrealistic. Meloni will want to prevent, it is said that the re-emerging Weimar triangle of Berlin-Paris-Warsaw could beat her to the post with an alternative candidate to von der Leyen. The fear is that Meloni would then be relegated to the back row of the Brussels rankings. And would have had to bow to what others pretend to be in the public eye. Even if it were Draghi.

Meloni has not yet commented on the Draghi speculation. Her internal coalition opponent, Lega leader Salvini, has been demanding for days that Meloni takes a clear position before the election on whether or not she will vote for von der Leyen afterwards.

The negative news about von der Leyen over the past few days has received a lot of attention in Italy. The German is viewed skeptically in Italy, especially by voters on the right, but not only there. “We’ll see”, even Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani said a few days ago about whether his EPP comrade would get her second term in office. “At the moment” she is the EPP candidate. Draghi, on the other hand, is highly respected in Italy – across party lines, in the economy and also among citizens.

Draghi report as blueprint for own term of office?

So there is much to suggest that Meloni could back Mario Draghi after the election. But there is also a lot that does not. With such an approach, Meloni would snub her own party friends. Some are already reckoning that the chairwoman of the Fratelli could win a commissioner post for her party. This is another reason why Meloni is likely to hold back from saying “si” or “no” to von der Leyen until after the election. After all, the aim is to get as much as possible for Italy out of a vote for the Christian Democrat.

The fact that Mario Draghi himself has not even hinted at being available for the office of President of the European Commission is simply unimportant in the Italian discussion. The 76-year-old is not keeping a completely low profile either. At a lecture in La Hulpe near Brussels a few days ago, he gave an insight into the report he is writing on behalf of von der Leyen, which is to be presented after the elections. In Italy, Draghi’s speech was promptly regarded as the blueprint for the 2024-2029 European legislature. Almut Siefert

Digital policy: time for implementation and dynamization

By

Corinna Visser

In the first part of the digital decade proclaimed by the EU, the Commission, Council and Parliament have adopted a wealth of important digital laws. “With the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act, we have laid the foundations that will determine digital policy in the next decade“, says FDP MEP Svenja Hahn. Among other things, she helped negotiate the AI Act.

René Repasi (SPD) also believes that “we have presented a good proposal”. The question is what the task of the new commission should now be in the second half of the decade. Both MPs say: “Now is the time for implementation. We need to observe how the laws work in practice.” But there is still more to do.

Regulation must become networked, decentralized and cooperative

The rapid developments in the field of artificial intelligence also make a new type of regulation necessary. Anselm Küsters, Head of Digitalization and New Technologies at the Centre for European Policy (cep), writes in a new paper: “The mandate of the next Commission should not only address the question of how AI can be regulated or subsidized in Europe, but also how to prepare the European institutions for an environment in which the pace of change and uncertainty will continue to increase“. In order to remain globally competitive, EU governance must reflect the characteristics of digital technology itself, i.e. become efficient, networked, cooperative, transparent, decentralized and iterative.

To this end, the EU should move away from its skepticism towards AI and use its potential by integrating AI into public services. This would also improve efficiency and decision-making, says Küsters. He also proposes a new governance model. A networked model with digital platforms and citizen participation would facilitate collaboration across departments and national borders. This would make the legislation more relevant and democratic. Ultimately, the EU needs to move from detailed, static regulation to an iterative, technology-driven implementation process, Küsters demands.

Repasi wants dynamic digital legislation

“Digital legislation must come alive” – that’s how René Repasi puts it. “It can’t be rigid, as we perhaps had with the General Data Protection Regulation.” Instead, legislators are required to take a different approach to dynamization. “We’ve got a new type of legislation,” he says. “We can’t activate the big tanker of legislation every time we see that digital reality has overtaken us.” This is neither efficient nor good for Europe as a digital location. “That’s why we have set a framework in which we leave a lot to the Commission – guidelines, delegated acts, implementing acts and the like.” It is now up to the Commission to “keep things dynamic“.

However, this also means that Parliament must find new dialog formats with the Commission so that the Commission’s power does not increase to such an extent that it becomes problematic from a democratic perspective. “We have set up cross-committee working groups on the individual legal acts DMA and DSA, in which the Commission reports regularly”, explains Repasi. “When we renegotiate the framework agreement between Parliament and the Commission in the next mandate, we must pay attention to the extent to which we can influence the Commission’s drafts for delegated acts.” Parliament should be able to obtain information, discuss it and exert influence.

Repasi also expects new regulation, such as the Digital Networks Act, which deals with the necessary connectivity infrastructure for the digital economy. “This is a point that is still open and I believe is relatively central,” says Repasi. He also believes that the Commission must complete the Digital Fairness Check, which looks at the area of consumer protection in the digital sector.

Svenja Hahn is concerned with adapting the regulations that are not practicable. She refers, for example, to the lawsuits filed by companies against the classification as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) in the DSA. “Unfortunately, this shows that the laws are often not formulated clearly enough“, she says. “It’s not good when laws are formulated in such a way that courts have to spell them out. In my view, this needs to be improved in the next legislature.”

And she says: “Of course we will talk about money. I’m thinking in particular about supercomputers.” There are already various projects within the European Union. However, greater prioritization is necessary here.

The same applies to the next multiannual financial framework. Here, “the focus must be on research and future investments from the EU budget. At the same time, however, we must also mobilize massive amounts of private capital.” One point that is often overlooked in the debate on the Inflation Reduction Act is that a large part of this is tax incentives. “One of the most important issues is how we can create a climate in Europe in which private investment is attractive“, says Hahn. She calls for framework conditions that make it easier to raise capital and be active across borders.

In some areas, she is pushing for existing laws to be modernized. She is thinking of copyright law and the General Data Protection Regulation – both of which are driven in particular by technological developments in the field of AI. “We need a different way of dealing with data”, says the MEP. “The basic principle of the GDPR is data minimization. But for AI, you need as much data as possible. To ensure data protection, we need to talk much more about anonymized and pseudonymized data if we want to train high-quality AI in Europe.” The GDPR needs an update here.

Hahn is also calling for a new debate on how to regulate copyright in AI applications. “The question is how we can achieve a fair balance. Incidentally, this also applies to the question of liability in AI.”

Voss has an eye on the digital single market

Two and a half years ago, the Commission had already presented a draft law on the issue of AI liability, which Parliament has not yet negotiated because it wanted to finalize the AI Act first. The designated rapporteur is Axel Voss (CDU). However, he now wants to wait for the report from the scientific service “so as not to overshoot the mark”.

The question is whether a separate liability law is still necessary for AI, or whether there are gaps in the new product liability law. This could possibly be the case for generative AI, which does not appear in product liability law. In any case, Voss believes it is important that there are uniform rules throughout Europe. However, such attempts regularly meet with little approval in the Council. But “the fragmented internal market is absolutely counterproductive”, says Voss.

Voss has already drawn up a ten-point roadmap for the Commission on what it needs to tackle in the coming years. This includes, among other things, “that the legislator itself becomes more flexible in digital matters“, says Voss. Legislators need to react more quickly to undesirable developments, he says, referring to the GDPR, where nothing has happened for eight years. He also calls for sustainability reporting to be combined much more with digital elements to reduce the burden on companies. “Why don’t we strive for digital solutions at the same time as the Green Deal?”, asks Voss.

Geese still sees gaps in child and youth protection

Alexandra Geese, the Greens’ digital expert, sets a slightly different tone. She believes that with the DSA, AI ACT and Data Act, the EU has done “ground-breaking work worldwide for clear rules in the digital sector”. These must now be effectively enforced. ” I see holes that we still need to plug in the protection of children and young people“, says Geese. “As well as in the addictive design of digital services, which employ thousands of psychologists to keep us in front of the screen for as long as possible and trick our brains.”

Another extremely important area is competition law for online advertising. “The Google and Meta duopoly controls a large part of the online advertising market and deprives our press of its financial basis.” Geese believes that the Commission still has a role to play here.

Suspicion of espionage at AfD: Party leadership was allegedly warned years ago

The AfD party leadership may have known about the possible involvement of Maximilian Krah’s employee, Jian G., with China for years. The European delegation is said to have sent a letter to Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel at the beginning of Krah’s term of office with information about his employee Jian G. However, as Krah was running for mayor of Dresden in 2022, the party leadership ignored the information.

“They didn’t want to know about it then, now it’s their problem“, one MEP told Table.Briefings. The leadership was therefore aware of the risks associated with Krah’s top candidacy before the European list party conference. It is known from AfD circles that the federal leadership was not enthusiastic about Krah, but that there was a lack of prominent alternatives.

Krah, the party’s top candidate for the European elections, and Petr Bystron, the second on the AfD list, hardly need to fear for their candidacies – the lists for the European elections have already been drawn up. However, there are now growing concerns within the party that the top duo could seriously damage the AfD’s election prospects. Even if they were kicked out after the election, they would still be safe in Brussels due to their good list positions.

Employee allegedly spied on opposition members

Krah tweeted on Tuesday that he himself had only learned of the night-time arrest in the morning. “Should the allegations prove to be true, this would result in the immediate termination of his employment.”

On Tuesday, Krah’s employee Jian G. was arrested at his home in Dresden on suspicion of spying for China. The 43-year-old man is said to have spied on the opposition movement in China. He is also alleged to have passed on information from the European Parliament.

Table.Briefings already reported on G. and his close ties to organizations of the Chinese United Front in October 2023. In recent years, G. had allegedly repeatedly ensured that the AfD politician was courted in China and was offered prominent platforms as a speaker. Read here how the trained agent specifically assisted the Chinese state. fk

Election campaign: Data protection authority warns against micro-targeting

Meike Kamp, the Berlin State Data Protection Commissioner responsible for the parties through their headquarters, has called on the parties to refrain from so-called micro-targeting in the election campaign for the European Parliament. “I appeal to you to refrain from using microtargeting methods in your election advertising and to gear your advertising campaigns towards strengthening the public discourse on their content“, reads a letter sent to all parties.

The parties, which are entitled to participate in the formation of political opinion under the German constitution, must avoid “such individual and manipulative advertising” that “the free and political formation of opinion is severely restricted and the comparison with messages received by other people is no longer possible.” Kamp sees micro-targeting approaches as part of the larger democratic problem.

This argument, which is unusual for a state data protection commissioner, can be understood as part of the statutory advisory function of the data protection supervisory authorities – or as a preliminary stage for possible intervention.

In her letter, Kamp largely focuses on the problems of election advertising in public discourse. However, she also emphatically reminds the parties once again of the legal requirements for micro-targeting: “As you know, the use of special categories of personal data in accordance with Art. 9 GDPR, including information about people’s political views, is only permitted with the express and effective consent of the data subjects.” It would be the task of the Berlin State Data Protection Commissioner to check this and, if necessary, punish it. fst

Parliament approves new EU debt rules

In a series of three votes, the European Parliament approved the new EU debt rules on Tuesday. A large majority of the EPP, Social Democrats and Liberals voted in favor of the rules. The Greens rejected them on the grounds that the rules would prevent urgently needed investment in the green transformation.

The EU Commission proposed the reform of the rules in April 2023. While retaining the target values of the EU treaties, it wanted to make the rules more flexible and create incentives for investments and reforms with multi-year, individual financial plans. After intensive negotiations at finance minister level, part of the flexibilization was restricted again through numerical minimum figures.

The EU Council must now officially approve the reform, which is considered certain. Twenty days later, the rules will officially come into force. The member states then have until Sept. 20 to submit their medium-term financial plans to the Commission based on the new rules. jaa

EU trade facilitation for Ukraine clears final political hurdle

After some back and forth, the EU Parliament approved the extension of free trade with Ukraine by a clear majority on Tuesday. A group of member states, led by Poland and France, had previously succeeded in renegotiating the agreement once again in order to strengthen protective measures for agricultural products. Parliament had also called for the latter in its negotiating position.

MEPs thus used the last chance to extend the trade facilitation measures by one year before the current measures expire on June 5. At the same time, the European Commission has promised to start negotiations with Ukraine for a longer-term trade framework in order to avoid having to make a new decision every year in the future. The EU Council still has to give its final approval, but this is considered a formality. jd

Ecodesign and right to repair: Parliament adopts trilogue agreements

On Tuesday, the EU Parliament adopted the trilogue results of the Right to Repair Directive and the Ecodesign Regulation. As soon as the Council has also formally approved the results, both laws can enter into force.

The Ecodesign Regulation revises the previous Ecodesign Directive, which only applies to some household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. The regulation extends the scope of application to almost all products. It also prohibits the destruction of unsold clothing, shoes and accessories. Coreper had already approved the trilogue result in December.

The Right to Repair Directive aims to reduce waste and strengthen the repair industry and consumer rights. For example, manufacturers must repair products after the statutory warranty period at reasonable prices and within reasonable periods. Consumers must have access to information, spare parts and tools. The EU member states must also provide financial incentives in the form of vouchers or subsidies. The Council also still has to approve the result. This is planned for the Coreper meeting on May 15 and for the Competitiveness Council on May 23.

Anti-forced labor regulation adopted

The ban on products from forced labor was also adopted by the EU Parliament on Tuesday. In the future, products manufactured using forced labor will no longer be made available on the EU internal market, sold or exported from there. The EU Parliament and Council agreed on the new regulation at the beginning of March. The Council adopted the result in mid-March.

MEPs also adopted their negotiating mandate for a law to prevent the loss of plastic pellets. The EU Commission presented a draft in October. According to this draft, obligations are to apply to all players who handle plastic pellets. In detail, this involves preventing losses, drawing up risk assessment plans and remedying damage in the event of a loss. The Environment Committee adopted the report in March. In it, it tightens up the draft in some areas, such as the training of personnel, the tracking of plastic pellets and the information available on environmental risks. leo

Regulation against late payment: EU Parliament defines position, Council slows down

With a large majority of 459 votes to 96, the European Parliament agreed on a common position on the regulation against late payments on Tuesday. As almost half of all B2B payments in the EU are paid late, the Commission proposed a new regulation last September.

The regulation is intended to replace an existing directive on late payment. According to the Commission, SMEs in particular suffer from late payment of invoices because large companies sometimes use their power to enforce longer payment periods. The Commission had therefore proposed that a payment delay of more than thirty days in commercial transactions could be subject to a reminder fee of €50.

Parliament wants longer deadlines after consultation

Parliament deviates from the Commission’s proposal by introducing exceptions for some sectors, for example in retail. In addition, business partners in all sectors should be able to contractually agree on a 60-day payment period instead of 30 days. In return, reminder fees could rise to up to €150 depending on the invoice amount in the parliamentary version.

While the Parliament has thus defined its position, the EU Council is still a long way from reaching an agreement. There is little interest in the new regulation among the member states. It is therefore still unclear whether and when trilogue negotiations will take place. jaa

Large majority in favor of Gigabit Infrastructure Act

The European Parliament has adopted the Gigabit Infrastructure Act with 594 votes in favor, seven against and 15 abstentions. The Act is intended to accelerate the expansion of gigabit-capable networks in Europe. To this end, the costs of providing high-performance networks are to fall and the EU also wants to promote investment in digital infrastructure.

One of the most important objectives is to simplify and speed up the procedures for approving infrastructure projects and to reduce bureaucratic obstacles for operators and national administrations. In negotiations with the Council, MEPs have pushed through the principle of “tacit approval“. This means that a permit for the installation of infrastructure is automatically deemed to have been granted if no response is received from the administrative authority within a four-month period.

Call anywhere in Europe at domestic rates

MEPs also ensured that the process of abolishing charges for intra-EU calls and text messages is continued. By 2029, calls to another member state should not cost more than national calls. The existing price caps for intra-EU calls, which would expire in May 2024, were extended until 2032.

Rapporteur Alin Mituța (Renew) said the law will put Europe ahead in the digital race. “We now have a common EU approach to provide every EU citizen with access to high-speed internet and close the connectivity gap between rural and remote areas and their urban counterparts, as well as ensure better coverage of transport corridors.” vis

Deutsche Bank CEO: ‘Without a capital markets union, the Green Deal is dead’

At the Banking Day in Berlin, the banking sector called for a capital markets union. Without progress, the ecological restructuring of the European economy will fail. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said on Tuesday: “Without the Capital Markets Union, the Green Deal is dead.”

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel referred to estimates by the EU Commission, according to which the transformation and digitalization of the economy requires additional investment of over €745 billion per year. Private investors would have to provide the lion’s share of this. “Companies must be able to finance themselves more easily across national borders, especially with equity.” He is confident that the Capital Markets Union will become a reality this time. “For me, it is one of the pillars that must now be chiseled by the new Commission. We really have to cross the finish line now.” The topic has become a top priority, which is important.

The fragmented financial markets in Europe are seen as a major competitive disadvantage compared to the USA or Asia. The EU has been talking about this issue for many years. In practice, very different national laws stand in the way of a capital markets union – including on insolvencies, the taxation of capital gains and IPOs.

Scholz again urges progress

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out in favor of rapid reform on Tuesday – through common tax standards, harmonization of supervision, more securitization of loans and a reform of insolvency rules. “Perhaps we have the best insolvency law in the world 27 times over. But perhaps it would be better if it were the second best once, but uniform for all 27.” Germany is insisting on a broader approach with all EU states, while France would like to start with a small group of EU states.

At the most recent EU summit, all heads of state and government committed to the Capital Markets Union. However, several small states emphasized their reservations about elements such as European financial supervision or harmonization of corporate taxes. rtr

EU investigates Chinese surveillance manufacturer

The EU has launched another investigation into alleged state subsidies against a Chinese company. As part of the investigation, EU officials inspected the premises of the Dutch and Polish subsidiaries of a Chinese security technology company on Tuesday morning, as reported by the South China Morning Post. The officials accessed the information and communication system as well as employee telephones. The company in question manufactures surveillance systems.

The EU investigation is based on the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), which is intended to prevent foreign companies in the EU from gaining advantages through subsidies from their home country. The EU officials did not initially provide any information on the name of the company under investigation, its nationality or the sector in which it was active: “The Commission has indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the internal market under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation,” the statement said.

The FSR, which entered into force in 2023, gives the EU Commission far-reaching new powers to take action against distortions in the internal market. The EU has already used the Foreign Subsidies Regulation to scrutinize state aid in a tender for a railroad project in Bulgaria, the involvement of Chinese panel manufacturers in a solar park project in Romania and Chinese suppliers of wind turbines in the expansion of wind farms in Spain, Greece, France, Romania and Bulgaria. cyb

DSA: TikTok submits documents

The operator of the controversial short video platform TikTok submitted its risk assessment for TikTok Lite on Tuesday. The EU Commission had set a deadline to submit the missing risk assessment documentation on the potentially addictive features of the TikTok Lite app. Bytedance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, is thus avoiding fines for the time being.

However, Bytedance must submit further documents on Wednesday in order to avoid an injunction that could even force the shutdown of these features.

The EU takes issue with TikTok Lite’s bonus program. Users receive points for every video they watch. Critics fear that this could lead to increased addiction potential. TikTok Lite was recently launched in France and Spain. fst/rtr

€112 million for AI and quantum research

The Commission is investing €112 million in artificial intelligence and quantum research and innovation. A corresponding call for proposals was opened for project applications on Tuesday.

The €112 million is divided between various areas:

€50 million for large AI models to promote the integration of new data modalities and the expansion of their capabilities. €15 million to improve the comprehensibility and reliability of AI systems.
€40 million will benefit research in the field of quantum technologies.
€6 million is aimed at strengthening Europe’s commitment to global ICT standardization.
€1.5 million are being invested in research into people in the digital transformation.

The whole thing is part of the 2023-2025 work program “Horizon Europe – Digital, Industry and Space“.

AI Act: Intelligent market design for testing high-risk AI

By Dominik Rehse, Sebastian Valet and Johannes Walter

Dominik Rehse, Sebastian Valet and Johannes Walter are researching the effective design of generative AI tests at ZEW Mannheim.

Anyone on social media after the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the end of November 2022 was not only amazed at the technology’s impressive capabilities, but also gloated about how quickly it could be taken for a ride. For example, it was relatively easy to generate discriminatory or even extremist texts and instructions on how to build weapons.

However, the creators of ChatGPT were obviously reading along and made it increasingly difficult to use the service for such purposes. The mockers ultimately also became free service providers for OpenAI. They carried out so-called “red teaming” or “adversarial testing”.

The EU’s AI regulation, which was finalized in March, now makes such tests mandatory for generative AI models with systemic risks. These are currently likely to include the most powerful commercial models from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. Prescribing red teaming for such models makes a lot of sense. However, detailed regulatory requirements are necessary for red teaming to be used effectively. This is not just about defining technical requirements, but also about the targeted design of institutions and rules for all participants, i.e. an intelligent market design.

Red teaming should only be carried out by an independent body

The usefulness of red teaming for models of generative AI results from their technical properties. The models have – at least at present – the character of a “black box” that cannot be explained conclusively or even mechanistically. However, the behavior of the models, i.e. the output of a model in response to an input, can be studied relatively easily, as users on social media proved when ChatGPT was launched.

However, there are many ways in which red teaming can be implemented. It is conceivable that providers of regulated models will use these degrees of freedom to their advantage and to the detriment of society. To prevent this, the AI Regulation refers to codes of practice and harmonized standards that have yet to be developed. In our view, these should meet four key requirements.

Firstly, it should be established that red teaming is carried out by an independent body. Up to now, red teaming has typically only taken place within companies. However, only external and independent red teaming can ensure truly trustworthy and transparent results.

Target definition and role allocation for reliable model testing

Secondly, the codes of practice and harmonized standards should contain a specific test objective. This can define if and when a model has been sufficiently tested and ensures effective red teaming. In our view, this goal should be to determine the difficulty with which undesirable model behavior can be generated in a particular context of use. The difficulty, in turn, could be determined, for example, based on the monetary effort or the required expertise of the red team members.

Thirdly, different roles should be defined in the red teaming process so that incentives can be set in a targeted manner. Members of a red team should receive a reward for any misconduct found. The more serious and novel the misconduct found, the higher the reward should be.

To prevent the Red Team from judging its own success and rewarding itself accordingly, the validation of potential misconduct should be performed by a separate role: Validators assess whether a submitted potential misconduct should actually be classified as such. The recruitment of Red Team members and validators and their payment should be handled by an organizer independent of the model developers. This organizer also provides the infrastructure for the Red Team to interact with the AI models.

Developers should bear the costs of independent red teaming

Fourthly, the costs of organizing a Red Team should be borne by the developers of the AI model. On the one hand, this gives developers an incentive to test their AI model internally as well as possible before the external review. The more misconduct can be prevented in advance, the fewer rewards have to be paid out to the red team in the external test.

Secondly, the assumption of costs by developers ensures that some of the costs incurred by society as a result of the negative effects of AI models are borne by the developer. The success of the AI Regulation will depend not only on technical considerations, but also to a large extent on economic considerations. We have published details on this today in a ZEW Policy Brief, which is available for download on the ZEW website.

Dominik Rehse, Sebastian Valet and Johannes Walter form the junior research group “Design of Digital Markets” at the ZEW – Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim. As part of a multi-year project funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, they are researching the effective design of generative AI tests.

European Parliament celebrates 2004 enlargement round with guests

European Parliament Building in Strasbourg. France — The masts with the flags of all member states were erected in front of the Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg after the 2004 accession round.

It was the EU’s largest round of enlargement to date. On May 1, 2004, ten states joined: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. On Wednesday, the penultimate sitting day before the European elections in June, the European Parliament is celebrating this event with guests who played a role at the time: Pat Cox, then President of the European Parliament, Romano Prodi, then President of the Commission, and his Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen are invited. There will be one high-ranking politician, head of state or government, foreign minister or chief negotiator from each accession country. There are also citizens from each EU country who were born on the day of accession or a little later. The small ceremony ends with the anthem “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven, performed by the a cappella choir “Voix de Stras”. mgr

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Till
Hoppe

Sarah
Schaefer

Lukas
Knigge

Corinna
Visser

Markus
Grabitz

Alina
Leimbach

Eric
Bonse

Manuel
Berkel

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

János
Allenbach-Ammann