Pérez-Llorca and Carlos III University of Madrid present the European Center for Digital Regulation

The opening ceremony of the Center was attended by Mayte Ledo Turiel, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. Pérez-Llorca and Carlos III University of Madrid have organized the first session of its European Chair for Digital Regulation. The Center relies on the collaboration with Vinces, whose innovative vision on the relationship between the public and private sector to address regulation will bring a differential value to the project.

Pérez-Llorca and the University Carlos III of Madrid, in collaboration with Vinces, a strategic consulting firm specialized in public affairs, presented the European Center for Digital Regulation, a pioneering initiative aimed at generating technical-legal knowledge and promoting collaboration between the private sector, academia and public authorities in order to address the regulatory challenges of the digital sector and the creation of effective and sustainable regulations.

The European Center for Digital Regulation is part of the European Chair for Digital Regulation, which has been created and is co-directed by Pérez-Llorca and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The purpose of this collaborative space with the university and academic environment is to promote cycles of dialogues on the future of digital regulation and to promote dialogue with legislators and regulators in the face of technological challenges.

Constanza Vergara, Partner and COO of Pérez-Llorca, and David Ramos, Professor of Commercial Law at the University Carlos III of Madrid, opened the session, which included a speech by Mayte Ledo Turiel, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, and a round table with the participation of Miguel Escassi, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google Spain and Portugal; Juan Montero, Chief Public Policy, Competition & Regulatory Officer of Telefónica; Raúl Rubio, partner of Industrial, Intellectual Property and Technology of Pérez-Llorca; Sara Rodríguez, Head of Public Policy & Campaign of Airbnb Spain and Portugal; and moderated by Alfonso González de León, Partner and Director of the Digital area of Vinces.

Constanza Vergara and David Ramos opened the day explaining the objectives of the European Center for Digital Regulation, which aims to develop objective data and metrics to increase the effectiveness of digital regulation, trying to help reduce legal uncertainty and promote the quality of the rules. They also wanted to highlight its important role in articulating constitutional principles in digital regulation and boosting the role of business civil society. A productive debate requires asking ambitious and complex questions.

Mayte Ledo Turiel, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, then began her speech by underlining the relevance of these types of initiatives that work to address the emerging normative challenges of digital regulation. "Driving the debate on the limits of technology is essential. In this Center, I am sure that collaboration will be fostered not only between technologists and legislators, but also between philosophers, sociologists and civil society. This multidisciplinary interaction is crucial to ensure that technology regulation is not only robust and effective, but also ethically sound and socially responsible," stressed Ledo Turiel.

The session featured a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities we face today in the digital age and the impact of regulation. The colloquium was moderated by Alfonso González de León, Partner and Director of the Digital area of Vinces, who highlighted the important role of the Center: "Companies must actively participate in regulatory proposals on technological advances, explaining their operating and competitiveness costs, involving citizens in the debates and considering European values. In this Center that we are presenting today, we want to address these issues to improve digital regulation for the benefit of society".

Along these lines, Raúl Rubio, partner of Industrial, Intellectual Property and Technology at Pérez-Llorca, reflected on the socioeconomic impact of the strong regulatory pressure and exposed the need to achieve legal certainty with a strategic and long-term regulatory burden. "Regulation has the potential to become a compass that guides us towards sustainable innovation and business development. From a legal standpoint, we cannot anticipate all possible adverse scenarios, but it is possible to place more trust in companies and empower citizens with information and transparency."

Likewise, Sara Rodríguez, Head of Public Policy & Campaign at Airbnb Spain and Portugal, analyzed regulatory fragmentation and advocated prioritizing the generation of knowledge over hyper-regulation. "For the past two years, Airbnb has been leading conversations and calling for an EU-wide regulatory approach to achieve harmonized rules that help bring consistency across the EU. Airbnb’s priority now is to expand its collaboration with governments to provide support to find balanced solutions to local issues," Rodriguez said.

Miguel Escassi, Google’s director of public and institutional affairs in Spain, emphasized the need to promote initiatives such as the creation of this Center to reach a consensus among all players in the digital sector in Europe. "The adoption of IAG technologies has shown extraordinary potential with a cross-cutting speed of impact. However, in recent months we have moved from a position of enthusiasm to an environment of uncertainty. We must analyze, regulate and minimize the risks of AI, but we must put the focus on the enormous opportunities that AI can open up for Europe, to strengthen its competitiveness in the world, to sustain the European model of life; we must move from regulation to action," concluded Escassi.

For his part, Juan Montero, Chief Public Policy, Competition & Regulatory Officer at Telefónica, pointed out that the Center’s activity comes at the ideal time to address the critical geopolitical situation. "Today, finally, we are all aware that Europe is sliding rapidly and alarmingly towards the loss of digital relevance in the global context, which poses a serious risk to the competitiveness, security and strategic autonomy of the European Union. It is the responsibility of European policy makers and industries, in collaboration with the most rigorous academic initiatives, to reverse this trend," said Montero.

The Center collaborates with universities and academia through the European Chair for Digital Regulation co-directed by Pérez-Llorca and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The project joins the already consolidated Chairs of Commercial Law and Competition Law, organized together with IE Law School and ICADE, respectively.

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