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The biggest threat to European citizens’ privacy is posed not by companies, but by governments, according to Digital Europe’s director-general. The US Prism scandal has highlighted the potential for governments to snoop on individuals, which makes it even more important that neither the EU institutions nor other government bodies should be excluded from new data protection rules.

We are witnessing a new phenomenon where online tools, and especially the mobilising force of social media is no longer restricted to high politics or pure monitoring of EU events, but it is entering the realm of regulatory issues, from pesticides to intellectual property, where policy makers, both on national and EU level, are keen (and sometimes forced) to listen to the public, says András Baneth.

We need an EU Anti-Bullying Day to become a symbolic milestone in our efforts and to remind to all Europeans that bullying and cyberbullying is a problem with no borders, no specific technological or platform connection, no easy solutions, write MEPs Phil Prendergast and Seán Kelly.

The European Commission is poised to publish new payments rules covering ‘interchange’ fees, which are charged on card transactions. These could unfairly hit Visa and MasterCard, leaving rivals American Express and Paypal unfair market advantage, says the president of MasterCard Europe.

Using cash instead of debit and credit cards costs Germans around €150 per person each year, according to an academic study from Steinbeis University in Berlin on the ‘Cost of Cash’.

EXCLUSIVE / European institutions are tracking users of their web sites, in breach of the EU's own data protection rules, EurActiv has learned. The fact has been confirmed by Europe’s data protection watchdog, in an interview with EurActiv, while Brussels is reviewing privacy legislation to tackle the abuse.

The European Parliament yesterday (11 June) slammed the US over the PRISM data leakage scandal and called on the EU's justice commissioner Viviane Reding to challenge US attorney general Eric Holder over the issue when the pair meet in Dublin on Thursday.

Companies that adapt quickly to the new rules on data protection will not only avoid costly breaches, but also benefit from better information sharing, giving them a leading position in the race for consumers’ trust and ultimately their business, writes Ian Winham.

Europeans have reacted angrily to revelations that US authorities had tapped the servers of internet companies for personal data, saying such activity confirmed their fears about American Web giants' reach and showed that tighter regulations were needed just as the EU and US are about to launch transatlantic trade talks.

EXCLUSIVE / EU justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg today (6 June) are expected to consider giving EU institutions a sweeping exemption from new data protection rules.

Those opposed to a financial transaction tax, or Tobin tax, have been pushing myths about in an attempt to discredit the tax, argues Suleika Reiners. One of these myths is that businesses oppose the tax.

A spat between two MEPs responsible for leading the updated data protection regulation through the European Parliament has exposed rifts between lawmakers attempting to negotiate the new rules, and reinforced fears that the proposals are running out of time.

With the highest unemployment since the introduction of the euro, and a shortage of skills in the technology sector, Europe needs to tap into the emerging data revolution, writes John Boswell.

Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Thursday (30 May) called for an end to mobile roaming charges before the next European elections, and said mobile network operators should no longer be able to block telecommunications services such as Skype.

New EU data protection rules could collapse because of ‘excessive lobbying’, foot-dragging by MEPs, and entanglement in trade negotiations with the United States, Europe’s chief data protection watchdog warned yesterday (29 May).

EU ministers meeting in Brussels today (29 May) for the Competitiveness Council are set to clash over proposals to transform the European creative sector by reforming the continent’s fragmented copyright levy system. While France and Belgium want strong protection for authors, other countries favour a more liberal approach.

The number of countries bending the rules to allow spies and state authorities to conduct cyberattacks is escalating and constitutes a major security threat which should be addressed by an international convention, the security chief of a leading Chinese telecoms firm told EurActiv.

The G20 is a suitable forum for formulating new global standards for cybersecurity, says the chief security officer of one of China’s leading telecommunication companies. One or a few G20 members could be asked to take the lead and champion ideas that could the be tested by the others, he suggests.

Multinational technology companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon were a key focus of EU leaders' attempt to clamp down on aggressive tax avoidance at their summit on Wednesday (22 May).

Europe continued to hold the world’s largest share of the business-to-consumer e-commerce market, increasing its total revenue by almost one-fifth to €311.6 billion during 2012, according to a new survey seen by EurActiv.