Q2/2020 - Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), 15 June 2020

On 15 June 2020, the OECD informed that it was going to build up the secretariat of the new Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). The foundation of GPAI had been decided by the science ministers of the G7 states at their virtual conference in April 2020. It is based on the preparatory work in the field of artificial intelligence performed under the Canadian (2018) and French (2019) presidency. GPAI is aimed to promote global cooperation on artificial intelligence, to exploit synergies, investigate data governance and the future of work, and help to bring about a responsible and human-centric development and use of AI in a manner consistent with human rights. The partnership is based on the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence of May 2019. In June 2019, the G20 heads of states and governments had expressed their support for the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence at their Summit in Osaka. The GPAI is managed by a Council and a Steering Committee. Two Centers of Expertise will be established, one in Montreal and one in Paris. The foundation of GPAI and the constitution of its managing bodies is scheduled for autumn 2020.  In a joint statement, next to the G7 states, Australia, India, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Slovenia have joined the new Global Partnership[1].

 

OECD Secretary-General Ángel Gurría on global negotiations about the digital tax (BEPS), 18 June 2020

Since 2018 global negotiations for introducing a global regime for a digital services tax are taking place under the umbrella of the OECD and the G20. 137 states are participating in these negotiations that have become known under the abbreviation BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting). They are planned to be concluded by the end of 2020 in order to avoid unilateral measures by individual states for introducing a digital tax. On 16 June 2020, US-Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin informed the EU in a letter that the US government will no longer participate in these negotiations[2]. In response, OECD Secretary-General José Ángel Gurría declared that the negotiations were going to be continued despite the withdrawal of the US government[3].

 

Mehr zum Thema
Q2/2020OECD
  1. [1] Joint Statement from founding members of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, 15 June 2020: „We, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union*, have joined together to create the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay). As the founding members, we will support the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI in a manner consistent with human rights, fundamental freedoms, and our shared democratic values, as elaborated in the OECD Recommendation on AI. To this end, we look forward to working with other interested countries and partners. GPAI is an international and multistakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth. In order to achieve this goal, the initiative will look to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities. In collaboration with partners and international organizations, GPAI will bring together leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate across four Working Group themes: 1) Responsible AI; 2) Data Governance; 3) The Future of Work; and 4) Innovation & Commercialization. Critically, in the short term, GPAI’s experts will also investigate how AI can be leveraged to better respond to and recover from COVID-19.“ In: https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2020/06/joint-statement-from-founding-members-of-the-global-partnership-on-artificial-intelligence.html
  2. [2] Robert Lighthizer: „We have a situation where a variety of countries have decided that the easiest way to raise revenue is to tax somebody else’s companies and they happen to be ours. The United States will not let that happen.”, siehe: US withdraws from talks with India, others over taxing Google, Amazon, Facebook, The Print, 18 June 2020, in: https://theprint.in/economy/us-withdraws-from-talks-with-india-others-over-taxing-google-amazon-facebook/443720/
  3. [3] OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has reacted to recent statements and exchanges regarding the ongoing negotiations to address the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy, Paris, 18 June 2020,: “Addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy is long overdue,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “All members of the Inclusive Framework should remain engaged in the negotiation towards the goal of reaching a global solution by year end, drawing on all the technical work that has been done during the last three years, including throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Absent a multilateral solution, more countries will take unilateral measures and those that have them already may no longer continue to hold them back. This, in turn, would trigger tax disputes and, inevitably, heightened trade tensions. A trade war, especially at this point in time, where the world economy is going through a historical downturn, would hurt the economy, jobs and confidence even further. A multilateral solution based on the work of the 137 members of the Inclusive Framework at the OECD is clearly the best way forward,” Mr Gurría said. Mandated in 2018 by the G20 to deliver a consensus based solution by the end of 2020, the OECD has gathered 137 countries on an equal footing for the negotiations and has developed a two pillar approach, to be discussed in the following weeks leading up to a meeting of the Inclusive Framework in October 2020. The OECD will maintain its schedule of meetings to offer all members of the Inclusive Framework a place in the design of a multilateral approach. In: https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/oecd-secretary-general-angel-gurria-has-reacted-to-recent-statements-and-exchanges-regarding-the-ongoing-negotiations-to-address-the-tax-challenges-of-the-digitalisation-of-the-economy.htm