Insights

Welcome to Top in Tech, your guide for navigating and understanding the European 'tech-lash', the frontline of a new push to regulate the technology sector. Each month, the Global Counsel team will bring you inside the latest debates, proposals, and laws shaping the conversation in Brussels, London, and across the world.

After almost a decade of centre-right leadership, Anthony Albanese emerged as Australia’s new Prime Minister following this week's elections. Yet uncertainty remains; Albanese's Labor Party ran on few policy specifics beyond a repudiation of incumbent Scott Morrison's guarded approach to climate, and surging turnout for the Greens prevented them from securing an outright…

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there’s been a lot of talk about the return of history. post-1989 assumptions that liberal democracy and open markets were the single models on which most countries would converge now look naïve at best.

The modern internet runs on the free flow of data across the Atlantic ocean. But as policymakers push toward different systems for the regulation of data collection, what are the implications of a decoupling of data between the US and EU?

As technology advances and the world pushes to reduce emissions, are we entering a new age of nuclear power?

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron won a second term in the French elections. But his victory is complicated by the record showing of his far-right opponent, Marine Le Pen. With legislative elections looming in June and the intensifying Russia-Ukraine war threatening European cooperation, what did Sunday night tell us about the future of France?

‘Top in tech’ is a monthly episode from the GC tech policy team. Each month, the team lift the lid on the latest in Europe’s ‘techlash’, identifying where the debate is heading in London and Brussels, the politics behind it, and what this might mean for the apps and online services we use every day. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the fragility of the public health systems that we take for granted. As the virulence of the pandemic begins to abate across much of the world, how exposed – or prepared – are counties for the impact of war, economic sanctions, political isolation and new migratory patterns on existing health structures and systems? 

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered its second month, and Global Counsel continues to go beyond the headlines to cover the crisis through interactive events, in-depth analysis, and daily briefings.

Global Counsel Advisor Denzil Davidson is joined by historian Mary Elise Sarotte, author of the new book 'Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of the Post-Cold War Stalemate.

Global Counsel Managing Director Benjamin Wegg-Prosser is joined by Owen Matthews, Newsweek’s former Moscow correspondent, and Sergii Drobysh, a Ukraine-based political analyst, to discuss Russia's shifting internal politics and the mood inside a besieged Ukraine.

‘Top in tech’ is a monthly episode from the GC tech policy team. Each month, the team lift the lid on the latest in Europe’s ‘techlash’, identifying where the debate is heading in London and Brussels, the politics behind it, and what this might mean for the apps and online services we use every day.

Global Counsel members Alessandro Gangarossa and Felicity Hall are joined by Anders Rehnberg to discuss the EU's proposal Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has provoked one of the strongest non-military reactions from the West seen in decades. What explains Asian reactions to the invasions, and how are their economies coping with the fallout on global supply chains and energy markets? And what lessons will China take from this in regard to its rivalry with the West?

Benjamin Wegg-Prosser and Rebecca Park are joined by Chris Weafer, a Moscow-based investment strategist and founding partner of Macro-Advisory, to talk through the sanctions’ impact on corporates and investors and the specific challenges they face in Russia and the wider region.

On Wednesday morning, Russian troops entered Ukraine. As stressed by policymakers in London, Washington, and Brussels, everything is now on the table in terms of further sanctions against Russia. Whatever new measures might ensue-and depending on Russia’s counter-response-the immediate costs and possible risks for investors and corporates in the region have never been…

‘Top in tech’ is a monthly episode from the GC tech policy team. Each month, the team lift the lid on the latest in Europe’s ‘techlash’, identifying where the debate is heading in London and Brussels, the politics behind it, and what this might mean for the apps and online services we use every day. 

In a bonus episode, as the standoff at the Russian-Ukraine border continues, Alexander Smotrov and Rebecca Park discuss the economic and geographic implications of the crisis with CFC Big Ideas Partner Vasyl Myroshnychenko and CEC Group Chairman Marek Matraszek.