**Registration for this event has closed. Please contact Eileen Pryor (pryore@nrf.com) for further information.**
Invitation to Join NRF-EU Delegation Meetings
The NRF Government Relations team is assembling a group of retail member company executives to serve as delegates for a series of high-level, video-conferenced live meetings to be held October 20-22 with European Union (EU) and U.S. officials located in Brussels, Belgium, and with Europe-based retail company members of EuroCommerce. (EuroCommerce is a Brussels-based counterpart trade association with whom NRF has annually held joint meetings in Brussels since 2016 to explore opportunities to collaborate on public policy advocacy efforts within the EU.)
Due to the complexities of scheduling transatlantic meetings via an online platform at suitable times for officials, this year’s meeting program will be divided into three half-day sessions, each having a unique set of meeting participants, parameters and issue coverage, with one session scheduled per day as indicated in the agenda below.
We hope you can join NRF’s EU Delegation this year, and we invite you to register only for those sessions that you have a high degree of certainty you can attend, per the expected participation requirements detailed below. If you are interested in joining NRF’s EU Delegation, please review the participation requirements first before clicking on the registration button. Space in this year’s delegation is limited, and registration will close on Wednesday, October 13. When registering, please be sure to click in the box on the first session, and feel free to do so for the either, both, or none of the remaining two sessions.
Please note that these meetings are open only to NRF retail member companies, and outside consultants or attorneys of members will be unable to register or participate as delegates. Additional information about the meeting program and participation in it is provided below; all delegates are required to participate in the first day, and invited to also select the second and third day if they can ensure their attendance on those dates.
Principal Topics of Discussion for Meetings
Our NRF-EU Delegation meetings will cover a range of EU public policy issues that impact retailers who compete within the global retail and chain restaurant industries, including the EU’s ongoing and proposed regulations and guidelines regarding:
- the requirements for EU‑U.S. data transfers and implementing the European Commission’s new Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) in line with the European Data Protection Board’s “recommendations” for supplementary measures following the Schrems II decision;
- the outlook for a successor agreement to the invalidated EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the progress of U.S. Department of Commerce and European Commission negotiations, and the importance of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council meetings in this context;
- issues of concern with respect to EU data protection regulations, including compliance with and enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the potential overlap with the proposed e-Privacy Regulation;
- the operation of e-commerce platforms and EU anti-competition rules (which perhaps could be replaced by EU’s proposed regulation of platforms, including e-commerce platforms);
- the progress of EU legislation on artificial intelligence or “AI” (including AI-empowered voice assistants); and
- the EU’s Digital Strategy.
Expected Participation Level for NRF Delegates Registering for Meeting Sessions
All NRF members who register for this program will be required to complete a brief, confidential survey prior to the event to indicate their expected level of participation and to submit questions they would like addressed in the sessions. Because all sessions will be live and no meeting within a session will be recorded for later viewing, it is imperative that we have accurate headcounts for participation in these meetings, especially with officials of the EU and U.S. who are likely to ask for a firm meeting participant list at least one week in advance. Therefore, NRF retail company members who register for this event will be expected to join us and actively participate in the discussions, particularly in sessions where roundtable discussions of delegates are scheduled.
No Registration Fee for NRF Members
This program is being provided to NRF member companies as a benefit of your membership. As such, the meetings are limited to NRF members only who have been approved as delegates, and no outside consultant or attorney of a member company is permitted to participate other than NRF’s EU-based counsel that is facilitating the meetings for us. Because of our commitments to EU and U.S. officials, any unauthorized individuals attempting to access the meetings will be prohibited from doing so. Thank you for your understanding and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding this policy.
Questions
If you have any questions regarding the participation requirements, preliminary agenda or registration process, please contact Eileen Pryor.