Zach Meyers

The EU Commission shouldn’t give in to temptation & calls to loosen competition policy to boost competitiveness @zach-meyers.bsky.social associate fellow @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social told @politico.eu. “Competition policy has generally been a force for good & a force for innovation in Europe.”

New CERRE Blogpost: Achieving European digital sovereignty: can we keep attempting “everything, everywhere, all at once”?

💻 Europe’s tech dependencies are vast — but chasing everything, everywhere, all at once isn’t viable.

In a new blog, @zach-meyers.bsky.social says the EU must prioritise gaps that matter, build on strengths like industrial AI & chip tools, and face trade-offs head-on 👉 tinyurl.com/4pfa6kkd

The EU faces two existential problems. First: how can it tackle its so-called ‘competitiveness problem’ – its subdued rate of economic growth. Solving this problem requires better use of innovations, which – thanks to Europe’s poor track record on commercialising new technologies – are mostly foreign today. The second: how can the EU boost its technological sovereignty, so that it is less reliant on unreliable trading partners? This CERRE Issue Paper by Zach Meyers explores how the EU can reconcile these two priorities – just as the Commission is launching proposals for a European Competitiveness Fund, and a Cloud & AI Development Act, which aim to boost use of technologies like cloud and AI while supporting ‘sovereign’ technological solutions.

🚨 New CERRE Research 🚨

📘Can the EU reconcile #DigitalSovereignty & #Competitiveness?
✍️ By @zach-meyers.bsky.social

This is the first issue paper in a series of forthcoming publications under our newly launched EU Competitiveness Forum.

Read it here 🔗 tinyurl.com/sjcf7u86

"The EU has much to lose by deliberately under-enforcing the law and making its [tech] policy environment less predictable and more overtly politicised."

Good case made by @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social associate fellow @zach-meyers.bsky.social that the EU shd make the changes to digital policy that it needs in order to improve its competitiveness, not those that Trump is pressing for.

Better Regulation and the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act: Zach Meyers in Intereconomics Better Regulation and the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act: Zach Meyers in Intereconomics - CERRE

✍️ Our Director of Research @zach-meyers.bsky.social explores how the EU’s #AIAct is a key test of #BetterRegulation and to support innovation, it must be applied fairly, predictably & consistently.

His piece appears in the latest issue of @intereconomics.bsky.social

Read it here 🔗 rb.gy/n3p3iw

🚨New Issue Paper: Competition Policy for Cloud & AI

As EU policymakers aim to boost innovation and #competitiveness, how can they keep #AI foundation models open, high-quality & accessible?👉 rb.gy/o6x49k

This paper sets the stage for a full report launching at our next event on AI & Competition.

The EU can regain its technological end - but we must choose our battles and our partners wisely, ruthlessly prioritise, and urgently make long-needed reforms. At @cerrethinktank.bsky.social we'll be exploring this further in our upcoming set of papers and workshops on EU competitiveness. *END*

The vision is not based on protectionism or the idea that the EU should build its own end-to-end supply tech value chains - but based on international cooperation with partners who are trustworthy and positioning the EU to lead in future technologies. /3

We also agree that a "hard reset" is needed to fix this situation and rescue the EU from being a digital colony. The blueprint, “The European Way – A Blueprint for Reclaiming our Digital Future”, provides an overarching vision for European tech and suggests six interlocking reforms. /2

Proud to have contributed to a blueprint for European digital sovereignty with a huge range of EU tech experts. While we have different views, we all agree Europe faces a crisis: it is leading in very few digital technologies and its dependencies on foreign tech are excessive and too one-sided. /1

Can European tech regulation survive Trump 2.0? The last European Commission produced a frenetic amount of digital regulation. From the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to boost competition and fairness among the largest digital…

encompass-europe.com/comment/can-... @zach-meyers.bsky.social

How EU Platform Regulation Can Survive Trump 2.0 | PYMNTS.com Until recently, Europe’s position as the global standard-setter for digital platform governance had seemed assured – thanks to the quality of EU

💡CERRE’s Bruno Liebhaberg, Alexandre de Streel, and @zach-meyers.bsky.social contributed to the CPI TechREG Chronicle, arguing that EU platform governance must stay ambitious and focus on clear, proportionate, outcomes-focused #regulation.

Read here 👉 rb.gy/dagod2

#DigitalPlatforms #Transatlantic

📢 Meet the panellists for the first webinar of CERRE's #Transatlantic Cooperation Forum.

Speakers will discuss how Trump's push to reduce the state's role in the economy, and the EU's need to boost #competitiveness can shape economic #regulation.

Register here 👉 rb.gy/lefqa6

#CERREEvents

🔔 CERRE in the news!

Earlier this week, @zach-meyers.bsky.social shared his insights on The Opening Trade on @bloomberg.com TV, discussing the European Commission’s response to Trump’s #tariffs and its potential retaliatory measures.

Watch it here ➡ rb.gy/3g2zt7

#CERREVoices #GlobalTrade

📢 New article: The 🇺🇸 opposes 🇪🇺 digital laws as unfair to American firms, while some in Europe push for #deregulation to boost #competitiveness.
Bruno Liebhaberg & @zach-meyers.bsky.social explain how the EU can protect its regulations while easing tensions with the US: 🔗 rb.gy/0j244o

#CERREVoices

Trump Vents Anger With Putin, Marine Le Pen Found Guilty | The Opening Trade 03/31 Stocks fell and investors dashed to shelter in gold and Treasuries ahead of President Donald Trump’s deadline for a new set of sweeping global trade tariffs. President Donald Trump said he was "very a...

Delighted to join Bloomberg at an ungodly hour this morning to chat about the looming Trump tariffs, whether the EU could target US services imports in response, and the impact of fines against Apple and Meta under the DMA for transatlantic relations.

www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/... (from 00:24)

Op-ed: Trump’s challenge to EU regulation requires better, not less, lawmaking The EU’s regulatory approach is under pressure from Trump, highlighting the need for smarter, more effective lawmaking — not deregulation.

That will be key to maintaining the Brussels Effect in the long run — at a time most countries do not want to follow the US president’s techno-libertarian approach. Full article in link below! /6 *ENDS* www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article...

Of course, this won't address the US attack on Europe's regulatory approach. But showing that the EU's approach is durable and that regulation can be designed in a way consistent with economic growth and innovation will help the EU maintain its influence. /5

Well-designed inclusive governance mechanisms, could help big and small tech platforms and their users build broad consensus about how to translate outcomes-focussed regulations into concrete steps. /4

Instead, we suggest the EU go back to the basics of better regulation. Focusing on outcomes, rather than dictating technical details, can help lower compliance costs - and allow American firms to accommodate both US political sensitivities and European regulatory requirements. /3

As US policy-making becomes more erratic, the EU must knuckle down and focus on its strengths. Emasculating its laws would undermine the EU’s promise of a predictable and rules-based order, and undermine the development of a genuine single market. /2

Is deregulation the answer to Europe's competitiveness woes, or a path to restore the transatlantic relationship? In a piece for the Parliament Magazine, we outline why not - and what the EU should do instead. A short thread... /1

📖 Read the issue papers here: cerre.eu/publications...
📺 Watch the launch event I hosted, and an insightful panel discussion with representatives from the Commission, member state regulators and business, here: cerre.eu/events/ai-fr... *ENDS*

These papers provide major contributions: providing new insights into how the Act will work, and how to implement it in ways that avoid unnecessarily dampening Europe's tech competitiveness. /3

Daniel Schnurr delves into two examples of the law's broad requirements, that certain AI systems have sufficient "transparency" and "accuracy", and explains how to translate them into concrete steps. /2

I was thrilled to introduce two brilliant new CERRE papers unpacking the EU's AI Act today. Pierre Larouche lays out the complexity of the law's institutional framework, providing new insights into how EU and national governments should allocate responsibilities between authorities. /1

I'm also very very grateful to remain an associate fellow with the brilliant @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social team, where I'll be an occasional contributor. I'll be based in London but in Brussels a lot more from now on, so please do reach out to catch up!