The Atlantic Council’s Europe Center is pleased to invite you to a virtual conversation with Bruno Lasserre, Chief Justice and Vice President of the Conseil d’État (Council of State) of France on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 from 9:15 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. EDT / 15:15 hrs to 16:00 hrs CEST on Zoom.  

As France, the EU, and the United States grapple with regulating a digital future, a series of transatlantic legal and policy divergences have become apparent. Data privacy rights, the transfer of data abroad, regulation of online content, and the intersection of privacy and national security are all areas of differing philosophies and rules.  

Chief Justice Lasserre will join the Council for a candid conversation about a number of digital technology issues from a legal perspective and discuss how the European and French approaches compare to the American alternative. He will also discuss recent developments in French and the European Union regarding the intersection of privacy and national security and what implications these may have moving forward.  

Serving in the highest position on the Conseil d’État, Chief Justice Lasserre is a central figure in the debate over national security and data privacy in France and Europe. The Conseil d’État is France’s highest administrative court, with jurisdiction over the country’s privacy regulator, the CNIL, among other bodies. In addition, it advises the French government and Parliament on future legislation. Chief Justice Lasserre has served as the Chief Justice and Vice President since 2018, and was a chief architect of an important and controversial ruling mandating France’s security agencies comply with a CJEU judgment in the La Quadrature du Net case.    

This discussion will take place on Zoom and will be broadcast on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. To receive the event information, please register using the button above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to watch the event.

On Twitter? Follow @AtlanticCouncil and @ACFutureEurope and use #ACEurope to join the conversation and submit questions in advance.