Legislating Tech in the EU
In fall 2024 the course is offered as an online course, meeting weekly on Fridays from 10:40 – 11:30 am. This semester the course will explore legislating technology policy in the EU. The course will give students a high-level overview of how the European Parliament has evolved from a largely advisory role until the 1980s to its current status as one of the world’s most powerful legislative bodies looking specifically through the lens of the EP’s role in legislating the EU’s landmark technology legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the most recent Artificial Intelligence Act.
We will go beyond the agreed texts, to examine the tricky issues of how to implement legislation which – by its nature – is often the subject of political compromise. This will involve examining the quasi- or non-governmental actors at the EU-level and the attempts by Parliament to maintain effective oversight of implementation as well as the role played by the private sector in influencing both legislation and its implementation. Finally, and beyond the “Brussels Bubble”, we will look at the increasing relevance and activity of Parliament on the global stage, both in bilateral relations with other legislative bodies, notably the US Congress, and in other international fora.
The unit will be led by a senior European Parliament official whose career covered technology strategy and technology policy, serving also as a Diplomat representing the Parliament in Washington, DC, as well as earlier leadership roles during the 1990s in one of the most influential political group caucuses in the Parliament.
Meet the instructor
Peter Brown is a Senior Policy Adviser at the Strategy and Innovation Unit of the European Parliament. He recently returned to Brussels after serving as Senior Adviser on Technology Policy in the European Parliament’s Liaison Office in Washington DC. He resumed his career as a civil servant in 2018 after a decade in the private sector. Peter’s professional career has been predominantly in the European public service and since 1990 as an official in the European Parliament. In the private sector, he advised several Fortune 50 companies and many national governments and international organisations on technology strategy and governance, in cloud, cyber, IoT, AI, and data. He has been engaged in global standardization policy and IT standards development for more than 25 years.
