
About
The event will take place on Zoom.
Follow us on Twitter @friendsofeurope and join the discussion #FoEDebate.
This debate will be an opportunity to evaluate the Digital Services Act (DSA) and consider the impact of such unprecedented standards in light of the recent political agreement reached on the package. The DSA will ensure greater transparency of the algorithms used by online platforms, tackle misinformation and swiftly remove illegal goods and content online. In practice, what will this mean for people and the private sector in Europe?
The What the Chief Says series is linked to our overarching theme of creating a new social contract for Europe by 2030 and will feed into our flagship State of Europe high-level roundtable on 27 October 2022.
‘What the chief says’ events are exclusive, small, informal and off the record regular roundtable debates which offer our members the exclusive opportunity to engage directly and get to the heart of a specific policy issue with a senior decisionmaker from a European institution or government. These events are geared to be in tune with the interest of our members and are strategically linked to emerging trends within the EU sphere. It allows us to focus on the opportunities and identify the possible challenges in the European Commission’s own agenda and provides the possibility to go into greater depth and discuss the ‘nitty gritty’ of policies affecting Europe in the next years and beyond.
This 60-minute discussion will include a 10-minute introduction by Henna Virkkunen, Member of European Parliament and Shadow Rapporteur of the Digital Services Act, after which Friends of Europe’s members will have the opportunity to pose comments or questions in an off-the-record exchange on the impact of the DSA.
Schedule
Speakers

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe
Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sector and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Member of the European Parliament and Shadow Rapporteur, Digital Services Act
Henna Virkkunen has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2014, working across committees focused on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), Transport and Tourism, and the use of surveillance spyware – amongst others. Her recent parliamentary activities have included serving as ITRE Committee Shadow Rapporteur on the Digital Services Act – vocally calling for cross-parliament support of the act and ensuring it is futureproof and effective in the long run. Prior to her time in the European Parliament, Virkkunen was Minister for Education and Science, Minister of Public Administration and Local Government, and Transport Minister in her native Finland.
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