The European Commission calls on France on the law aimed at securing and regulating the digital space (SREN) recently voted by the National Assembly.
The European Commission is definitely not on good terms with the latest French legislative initiatives relating to internet regulation. After having sent two letters this summer criticizing the digital majority law and the influencer law, both encroaching on the scope of application of the Digital Services Act, it is the turn of the SREN law to be criticized by Brussels in a new missive .
Several measures of the SREN law in the Commission’s sights
If national governments and the European Union agree on the same desire to regulate the Internet, they do not seem to agree on the means to use. This is what is recalled in the detailed opinion sent by the Commission on October 25 to France, in which two major problems are highlighted.
According to the media Context, the Commission considers that the measure of the SREN law relating to age verification to have access to certain platforms (such as pornographic sites) encroaches on the DSA. Likewise, she asks France to leave control of foreign platforms to Brussels.
An opinion that will weigh on the future of the law?
Finally, another remark, she fears that the SREN law will lead to widespread surveillance of content by online services, which is prohibited. As a reminder, a regulation, unlike a directive, applies directly to all EU member states, and does not require a transposition law. Hence the risk of duplication when a law like the SREN law is passed just after the establishment of the DSA.
After its vote in the National Assembly, the SREN law is now in the joint committee, the latter having also been postponed for the end of November, or even the beginning of December. The detailed opinion of the Commission prohibiting promulgation before November 27, the publication of this law and its implementation could thus well be postponed for the first quarter of 2024.
Source : Context
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