Brazilian lawmakers visit Brussels for exchanges on AI and platform regulation

The mission aimed to collect insights from European experience with the legislative process, helping the participants, most of whom are involved in policy initiatives or legislative discussions related to the regulation of digital markets and AI technology, into addressing similar challenges in Brazil.

During the visit, the European Commission, Members of Parliament and representatives of the private sector engaged in collaborative discussions with the group, focusing on technical aspects of platform regulation and a detailed exchange on the European experience of implementing the Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the AI Act.

Sharing best-practices and converging challenges

The delegation met with DG CNECT at the European Commission. They presented a reflection on the state of play of the EU’s enforcement of the DSA and highlighted some of the best practices that have been defined to date in implementing this regulation, such as a clear risk assessment and risk mitigation framework.

On the DMA, the EU explained the specific and objective criteria to define gatekeepers, alongside a reflection on the DMA’s implementation after more than two years, as well as on the EU Commission’s role as a digital market's regulator, and the work done alongside gatekeepers to guarantee greater transparency.  

On digital services, the main interest of the Brazilian side focused on knowledge on how to characterise disinformation without compromising freedom of expression, fostering innovation, and regulatory requirements for small companies and startups in digital markets. On digital markets, the participants shared further questions about penalties to non-compliant companies, supervision fees and the impacts of the DMA at a member-state level.

Artificial Intelligence, innovation and regulation

During a lunch with private sector organisations, including representatives of telecommunications and industry, the group discussed the impacts of the AI Act on industry, and challenges with regulation and adoption of AI technologies in their respective fields. The EU side clarified some of the mechanisms created by the AI Act to engage the private sector, to give more flexibility to AI development while keeping a risk-based approach.    

Following that, a meeting between the Brazilian delegation and European parliamentarians showed common concerns around AI risks and security, transparency around large models and the need to offer up-to-date protection to workers, citizens and SMEs from risks associated with AI technology development and applications.

Finally, the last session of the day gathered representatives of the EU AI Office and Deputy Director-General Renate Nikolay. This session brought attention to some of Europe’s efforts in the current phase of the AI Act implementation, such as the InvestAI fund.

One of the takeaways of this discussion was around the commonly raised opposition between regulation and innovation, with the EU highlighting innovation and regulation as, in fact, two sides of the same coin: offering legal certainty and protection of rights to de-risk innovation efforts.

Towards a Shared Digital Horizon

The EU and Brazil already have a lot in common with the issue of digital regulation, such as data protection, which encourages cooperation in other topics.

Common priorities between the EU and Brazil include protection of minors, spread of illegal content and products, and threats to democratic processes (such as elections). Both sides have challenges, such as the discussion on copyright, transparency and co-regulation practices in AI development.

There are additional room for collaboration opportunities in digital topics and technical and political exchanges on these matters, including at a regional level through the EU-LAC Digital Alliance and with Member States, such as in the German-Brazil Digital Dialogue.