Mobile devices occupy an integral role in everyday life, with unprecedented innovation continuing to drive essential connectivity and productivity. The pace of evolution of the mobile ecosystem in recent years, and its vital role in modern societies, has in-turn demanded a parallel evolution in how the digital sector is regulated.
In this context, the EU and the US are currently ramping up cooperation on technology, industrial leadership, compatible standards and regulation through the newly formed Trade and Technology Council (TTC), and there is significant enthusiasm as to the positive impact closer cooperation between the EU and the US might deliver for consumers and innovation on both sides of the Atlantic.
As the TTC kicks into action, and as US regulators deepen their thinking and increase their activity in updating rules state-side through bills such as the Open Markets Act amongst others, this latest edition of the Tech Policy Talks provides an opportunity for policymakers from the US and the EU to gather for a public discussion on cooperation and regulatory development particularly as it relates to competition, industrial policies and the maturing mobile ecosystem.
Moderated by: Paul Adamson, Chairman, Forum Europe
Christiane Canenbley, Deputy Head of Cabinet, Executive Vice President Vestager, European Commission
Alexandre de Streel, Academic Director, CERRE; Professor, University of Namur
Bill Baer, Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution, former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice
Gene Burrus, Director of Global Competition Policy, Spotify
Christiane Canenbley is Deputy Head of Cabinet for European Commission Executive Vice President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager. Before, she was in charge of the multiannual financial framework, digital single market and relations with Germany and Austria in former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s team. She also worked in the Cabinet of former European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan. Christiane Canenbley studied agriculture and political science in Berlin, Germany.
Christiane Canenbley
Deputy Head of Cabinet, Executive Vice President Vestager,
European Commission
Alexandre de Streel is Academic Director at CERRE and a Professor of European Law at the University of Namur and the Research Centre for Information, Law and Society (CRIDS/NADI). Since April 2021, he is also the Chair of the EU Observatory on Online Platform Economy.
He is a Hauser Global Fellow at New York University (NYU) Law School and visiting professor at the College of Europe and SciencesPo Paris, and also assessor at the Belgian Competition Authority.
His main areas of research are regulation and competition policy in the digital economy as well as the legal issues raised by the developments of artificial intelligence. Recently, he advised the European Commission and the European Parliament on the regulation of online platforms.
Previously, Alexandre worked for the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, the Belgian Permanent Representation to the European Union and the European Commission (DG CONNECT). He holds a Ph.D. in Law from the European University Institute and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Louvain.
Alexandre de Streel
Academic Director, CERRE;
Professor, University of Namur
Bill Baer is a visiting fellow in Governance Studies. He is one of the world’s best known and respected antitrust/competition enforcers. Bill is the only person to have led antitrust enforcement at both U.S. antitrust agencies, serving as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice from 2013 to 2016, and as Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission from 1995 to 1999.
During his tenure as Assistant Attorney General, the Antitrust Division achieved unprecedented success in civil and criminal enforcement, bringing and winning more cases than at any point in its history. He also developed close working relationships with his competition enforcement colleagues around the world. In 2016 and early 2017, Bill also served as Acting Associate Attorney General, the third highest official in the Department of Justice. He oversaw the work of the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Tax, and Environment and Natural Resources Divisions and successfully led the effort to hold financial institutions accountable in the Residential Mortgage Backed Securities crisis, securing record penalties and consumer redress.
Bill worked at the Federal Trade Commission on two different occasions: from 1995-99, as Director of the Bureau of Competition; and from 1975-1980 as Attorney Advisor to the Chairman and Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Congressional Relations. While not in public service Bill headed the highly regarded antitrust practice at Arnold & Porter, representing a broad range of companies in US and international cartel investigations, antitrust litigation, and mergers and acquisition reviews by antitrust enforcers, including the DOJ, FTC, state attorneys general, and the European Commission.
Bill was twice named by Global Competition Review as the best competition lawyer in the world; honored, in 2010 and 2012, by Best Lawyers as the best antitrust lawyer in Washington; and named by The National Law Journal as one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers.” In 2015 the Federal Trade Commission honored him with the Miles W. Kirkpatrick Lifetime Achievement Award. And in 2017 the American Antitrust Institute presented him with the Alfred E. Kahn Award for Antitrust Achievement.
Bill received his JD in 1975 from Stanford Law School, where he served as Senior Article Editor of The Stanford Law Review, and his BA in 1972 from Lawrence University, which recently awarded him its Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.
Outside of Brookings, Bill previously volunteered for the Biden team.
Bill Baer
Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution;
Former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice
Gene Burrus is Director of Global Competition Policy at Spotify, where he has worked since 2020. Gene has had a long career in antitrust and competition law around the world in technology markets, including 15 years at Microsoft. In particular, he has focused on enforcement against and policy regarding dominant digital platforms.
Gene Burrus
Director of Global Competition Policy,
Spotify
Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of Encompass, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.
Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.
Paul Adamson (Moderator)
Chairman,
Forum Europe
Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of Encompass, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.
Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.
Paul Adamson (Moderator)
Chairman
Forum Europe