II Annual Conference of the European Commission Legal Service

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Programme

1. 8 Mar 2024, 08:00 - 09:00 (CET)

   Registration and welcome coffee
2. 09:00 - 09:15 (CET)

   Welcoming remarks

   Mr Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director-General of the Legal Service, European Commission

3. 09:15 - 12:00 (CET)

   FIRST SESSION: Navigating the Future: Addressing Challenges and Opportunities in the regulation of Artificial Intelligence

   • 9:15 - 9:45 - Keynote speech
     
     Ms Věra Jourová,Vice-President for Values and Transparency, European Commission
   • 9:45 - 10:15 - Guest of Honour speech
     
     Mr Maciej Szpunar, First Advocate General of the Court of Justice
   • 10:15 - 12:00 - Roundtable
     
     Moderator: Ms Klára Talabér-Ritz, Legal Adviser at Directorate M (European Civil Service Law) and Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence Team Leader of the Legal Service, European Commission
     
     Panellists:
     • Mr Roberto Viola, Director-General of the Directorate-General of Communication Networks, Content and Technology
     • Ms Sandra Wachter, Professor of Technology and Regulation at Oxford University
     • Mr Dragoș Tudorache, Member of the European Parliament, Co-rapporteur of the AI Act
4. 12:00 - 13:00 (CET)

   Networking Lunch (buffet provided for the conference attendees)
5. 13:00 - 14:30 (CET)

   World Jurist Association event

   • 13:15 – 13:25 – Presentation of the World Jurist Association and of the World Law Foundation by Mr Javier Cremades, President of the World Jurist Association and of the World Law Foundation
   • 13:25 – 13:40 – The challenge of Artificial Intelligence to the Rule of Law and its impact on fundamental rights by Mr Egils Levits, President of Latvia 2019-2023, Judge at the European Court of Justice 2004-2019
   • 13:40 – 14:00 –  Award by the World Jurist Association
   • 14:00 – 14:10 – Closing remarks
     • Mr Javier Cremades, President of the World Jurist Association and of the World Law Foundation
   • 14:10 – 14:30 - Break
6. 14:30 - 17:10 (CET)

   SECOND SESSION: Open Strategic Autonomy and the Internal Market: How Open? How Autonomous?

   • 14:30 - 14:50 - Keynote speech
     
     Mr Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life

   • 14:50 - 15:10 - Guest of Honour speech
     
     Mr Anthony Whelan, Adviser to the President of the European Commission

   • 15:10 - 17:10 - Roundtable
     
     Moderator: Mr Leo Flynn, Principal Legal Adviser of Directorate C (State Aids) of the Legal Service, European Commission
     
     Panellists:
     • Ms Isabelle de Silva,Conseillère d'État, former president of the Competition Authority (2016 - 2021)
     • Ms Sabine Weyand, Director-General of the Directorate-General for Trade
     • Mr David A. Zapolsky, General Counsel, Amazon
     • Mr Ben Smulders, Deputy Director-General for State Aid at the Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
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8. 17:10 - 17:30 (CET)

   Closing remarks

   Mr Clemens Ladenburger, Deputy Director-General of the Legal Service, European Commission

Practical information

Description

The Legal Service has chosen two topics currently hotly debated in legal circles and in other settings, both of which address key Commission priorities for the years 2019-2024: Navigating the Future: Addressing Challenges and Opportunities in the regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Open Strategic Autonomy and the Internal Market: How Open? How Autonomous?

The first topic will discuss the ethical framework and regulatory landscape of artificial intelligence, with special regard to the upcoming Artificial Intelligence Act. The panel will foster a comprehensive discussion on how to ensure that AI in Europe is safe, respects fundamental rights, democracy, rule of law and environmental sustainability, while strengthening our capacity to innovate and protect vulnerable sectors of our economy. The panel will explore the multifaceted challenges and opportunities in regulating artificial intelligence in key areas, such as AI and privacy, bias and fairness, transparency and explainability, enforcement and compliance, regulatory implications of rapidly evolving AI advancements and international collaboration in harmonising AI regulation on a global scale.

The second topic will look at how the Union positions itself in the face of increasingly prominent calls for it to de-risk supply chains and be an autonomous actor in a world becoming less accommodating of openness, and still protect its most important achievement, the Internal Market. What are the trade-offs between the goals of openness and of autonomy, and to what extent does pursuing those ambitions in a global setting place strain on the Union’s internal market and its competition rules? Those and other choices that fall to be made in responding to that issue will be at the heart of the panel’s discussions.

The conference will offer ample opportunity to engage in informal in-person discussions.

Join the conference either in person, in Brussels, or follow the debates on-line.

We count on your participation, expertise and support in inviting as many relevant stakeholders as possible to join us, in order to have a fruitful dialogue and to broaden understanding of these topics.

The participants of the conference will have access to the recent publication of the Legal Service “70 years of EU law. A Union for its citizens”. The on-line version is available here.

We look forward to welcoming you to this new forum of exchange!