Biannual meeting of independent administrative and public authorities: exchanges under the European banner

The French audiovisual and digital communication regulator (Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique – ARCOM) today hosted the biannual meeting of independent administrative and public authorities (AAI and API) working in the field of economic regulation.

The first meeting of 2024 was devoted to European regulator news. The discussions focused in particular on recent French and European legislation that has enhanced the scope of their activities (European regulations on digital services and digital markets, regulations on media freedom, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and the law on securing and regulating the digital space), as well as on current European discussions that are closely linked to the work of independent authorities (future of telecoms, regulation of mobility data and gambling, relaunch of the Capital Markets Union, development of artificial intelligence, energy market reform, challenges facing infrastructure, development of an industrial approach, etc.). In the run-up to the 9 June EU elections, the subject of protecting voters’ personal data was also raised.

More broadly, the meeting was an opportunity for the authorities present to exchange views on cross-functional issues relating to their operation, how they cooperate with each other, and the publication of the general policy framework for the sustainable design of digital services, in which several of them were involved. The authorities present also decided to establish a working group on the use of artificial intelligence tools in the exercise of their respective activities, with each appointing a representative and based on a common roadmap. The AAIs and APIs intend to continue their discussions to promote and implement increasingly effective and integrated regulation, by fully integrating their actions into the European landscape.

The meeting brought together the presidents/chairpersons, secretary generals/director generals and cabinets of the following French AAIs and APIs: French competition authority (Autorité de la concurrence); French national gambling authority (Autorité nationale des jeux – ANJ); French financial regulator (Autorité des marchés financiers – AMF); French electronic communication, post and print media distribution regulator (Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse – ARCEP); French audiovisual and digital communication regulator (Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique – ARCOM); French transport regulator (Autorité de régulation des transports – ART); French high audit authority (Haute autorité de l’audit – H2A); French energy regulator (Commission de régulation de l’énergie – CRE) and French data protection authority (Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés – CNIL).