- Meta threatens to end its services in the EU
- Carbon capture and storage: EU moves closer to controversial technology
- Semiconductors: EU Commission wants intervention rights
- TRAN committee discusses ETS reform
- Multi-billion fund planned for European tech start-ups
- Study: Climate protection agreements can deliver significant CO2 reductions
- Biden: Russian Ukraine invasion means end of Nord Stream 2 pipeline
- Manfred Fischedick: the impactful climate researcher
- Habeck in France: Old fronts are blurring
A clear statement directly from the US president: In the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, “there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2”, Joe Biden said. “We will bring an end to it.” Standing next to him at the time was Olaf Scholz. The German chancellor, often criticized these days for lack of clarity, at least said one clear sentence: “We will act in complete agreement on the sanctions.” That can hardly be interpreted any other way: Germany will support a shutdown of Nord Stream 2 if push comes to shove. But Scholz does not want to say it as clearly as Biden.
An end to Meta-services in Europe – this allegedly would not phase Robert Habeck. The Economy and Climate Minister has been living happily without Facebook (and Twitter) for four years, as he said yesterday during his visit to Paris. At the moment, no one believes that the company will make good on its threat and shut down its services like Facebook, Instagram, and others in Europe. The background to this is a decision by the Irish data protection supervisory authority on the transfer of personal data to the USA. The main addressees of the threat may not be in Europe, as Falk Steiner reports, but in the tech giant’s home country.
By mid-century, the European Union aims to become climate neutral. But even after 2050, there will be unavoidable residual emissions that will have to be offset elsewhere to achieve the net-zero target. Most experts agree that the natural sink capacity of forests or wetlands will not be sufficient to achieve this. Accordingly, carbon capture and storage (CCS), the technical separation and storage of CO2, is becoming increasingly important. The EU Commission intends to present a corresponding legal framework by the end of the year. But the technology remains controversial, as Timo Landenberger knows.
Today, the EU Commission will present the European Chips Act. With this, it does not only wants to mobilize billions to give chip production in Europe a powerful boost. The Chips Act also provides for the establishment of a new task force to identify impending supply bottlenecks at an early stage. In the event of a crisis, the Commission is to be given far-reaching rights to intervene, including export controls. Criticism is now mounting. Read more about this in the News.
Sarah Schaefer
Feature
Meta threatens to end its services in the EU
Deep in the notes on potential business risks, the group has stated in the mandatory disclosures in the 10-K form that it expects an important decision from the Irish data protection supervisory authority DPC in the first half of 2022. This is expected to rule within the next few months on whether Facebook’s transfer of personal data to the US is currently lawful or whether it is in breach of the GDPR.
Meta has so far relied on so-called standard contractual clauses (SCCs) for this purpose. In its assessment, the group has thereby highlighted an option that is highly relevant for investors and users alike: “If a new transatlantic data protection framework is not achieved and we cannot continue to rely on SCCs or alternative means of transmission, we will probably not be able to offer some of our most important products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”
If this scenario were to occur, the business would be affected accordingly, which would hit Meta twice as hard. Recently, investors had punished the group with massive share price losses for poor user development figures.
Continue reading now
Get 30 days of free access to the Decision Brief to read these and more quality news every day.
Are you already a guest at the Europe.Table? Log in now