First meeting of the second mandate expert group

The Commission appointed a new group of 15 independent experts in March 2021 to continue the work of the Observatory.  The first meeting of the second mandate expert group took place on 30 April 2021 and set the ground for their work.

In his introductory speech, the Director for Digital Transformation in DG CNECT Mr Gerard de Graaf highlighted the importance of focusing on the future of the platform economy, looking into how platforms will evolve and how their growth should be supported. Introductory remarks were also made by Mr Prabhat Agarwal (Head of Unit, DG CNECT F2) and Ms Amaryllis Verhoeven (Head of Unit, DG GROW G3).  The Commission presented the policy context of setting up the expert group within the Observatory in 2018 and overviewed the legislative initiatives relevant for the work of experts. Tasks of the expert group were explained, referring to the achievements and lessons learnt from the first mandate of the expert group. 

After introducing themselves, the experts selected Mr Alexandre de Steel as the Chairman and adopted the rules of procedure. 

Experts discussed focusing on three broad topics of digital advertising, the forward-looking view on the platform economy, and the potential of the platform economy to foster positive developments in the EU’s economy’s ecosystems. The revised topics will be discussed further during the second meeting in June and once selected will be part of the future Work Programme. 

The agenda, minutes, and other documents of the meeting can be found here.

First meeting of the second mandate expert group