The Eu As A Global Digital Actor

This is the first book-length treatment of the advancement of EU global data flows and digital trade through the framework of European institutionalisation. Drawing on case studies of EU-US, EU-Japan and EU-China relations it charts the theoretical and empirical approaches at play. It illustrates how the EU has pioneered high standards in data flows and how it engages in significant digital trade reforms, committed to those standards. The book marks a major shift in how institutionalisation and the EU should be viewed as it relates to two of the more extraordinary areas of global governance: trade and data flows. This significant book will be of interest to EU constitutional lawyers, as well as those researching in the field of IT and data law.

Is the European Union a unified actor in world politics? The world’s leading economic power is still struggling to find its role in shaping and maintaining global peace, free trade and commerce. How successful is the EU ́s Common Foreign and Security Policy and its institutions really?

This book examines the ability of the EU and European actor networks to coherently and effectively navigate, manage, and influence debates and policy on the international stage. It also questions whether increasing complexity across a range of critical global issues and networks has affected this ability. Engaging with the growing theoretical and conceptual literature on networks and complexity, the book provides a deeper understanding of how the European Union and European actors navigate within global networks and complex regimes across a range of regulatory, policy cooperation, and foreign and security policy issue areas. It sheds light on how far they are able to respond to and shape solutions to some of the most pressing challenges on the global agenda in the 21st century. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of EU/European and global networks and more broadly to European and EU studies, Global Governance, International Relations, International Political Economy, and Foreign Policy and Security Studies.

Introduction : the framework of data institutionalisation -- EU as a global digital actor -- The EU as a digital trade actor -- The EU as a cyber actor : the evolving architecture of EU Cyber Law : beyond weak institutionalisation -- On the transatlantic divide : beyond weak institutionalisation -- East Asian convergence : EU-Japan relations and data -- East Asian reverse convergence with the EU? : closing down the gap in emerging EU-China relations -- Conclusions.

This book explores the intricate connection between the Single Market, characterized by the freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and labor within and across Europe, and the Digital Single Market, the virtual space that promotes freedom of movement of information and data. Both a result and catalyst of the Single Market, the Digital Single Market has become a different space from the Single Market, as the former is based on the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), while the latter is the result of concerted actions and concessions by Member States in the European Union. The author argues that, similar to the Single Market, the Digital Single Market is an instrument, built by the influence of the Internet, which can provide a new means of socio-economic growth and development in Europe. While sharing many similar characteristics, the Single Market and the Digital Single Market diverge in important aspects, particularly with respect to policy. The research analyzes the interaction between policy actors, their influence in the European decision-making process, and their interests in order to establish a digital policy model, in comparison with market policy. Moreover, this volume considers the implementation process and the success of such initiatives under the current policy model, and puts forward policy recommendations. Ultimately, the author considers the utility of such research on digital policy, considering the current focus on migration, vulnerabilities to internal challenges (e.g., Brexit) and security threats, maintaining that the discussion of digital policies relates to an innovative vision of the European integration process and prospects for its future.

This book illustrates the challenges that regulators and policy makers have faced in the transition from the ‘old’ network industries to the new digital ecosystem. It succinctly describes the evolution of digital economy, its main actors, notably global digital platforms, as well as its interactions, interdependences, and trade-offs. Eventually, it proposes insights about why public rules are needed, what kind of rules could be more effective, fair, and efficient, and who should pose and enforce them. The book is opened by an introduction, dealing with Digital Transformation, Big Techs, and Public Policies, which provides a general conceptual and thematic framework to the following analysis but could be also read as a stand-alone paper. The following chapters are grouped in two parts: I. The Evolution of Digital Markets and Digital Rights, and II. Regulating Big Tech’s Impact on Market and Society. The secondary title - the European approach – has a twofold meaning. It highlights the fact that this work has a clear focus on EU law and policy - although the economic and institutional issues addressed are global phenomena, common to all world’s economies. In addition, it also underlines that European digital policy is not yet complete and effective. This book intends to provide a small contribution to the ongoing policy making process, as well as to the wider academic and policy debate.

This edited collection critiques, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the growing body of EU children’s rights activities in the light of broader political, economic and legal processes. Specifically, it interrogates whether EU intervention effectively responds to what are perceived as violations of children’s rights and the extent to which EU efforts to uphold children’s rights complement and reinforce parallel national and international pursuits. Moreover, it scrutinises the compatibility of EU children’s rights measures with the principles and provisions enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

According to the European Commission, two recent policies: the Digital Service Act and the Digital Market Act will allow for the regulation of a significant part of the EU Digital Single Market (DSM), to an extent similar to the creation of the traditional internal market in the early 1990s. The provisions are intended to improve conditions in the EU DSM to ensure that the market is as free and fair as it is safe for users of the digital economy. This interdisciplinary book analyses the impact of digital technologies on specific markets and, more broadly, the society and the economy. It identifies and assesses the different features, challenges, trends and dimensions of the EU DSM, from a legal and economic viewpoint, and also from a Polish perspective. Poland is presented as one of the EU countries participating in the creation of the EU DSM and is analysed alongside the average, as well as the best and the worst performing EU member states and compared with other non-EU members. The book addresses several broad areas in which the implications of digitalisation are particularly visible, and which are important to the average person: giant online platforms, freedom of speech, e-commerce, digital levy, energy infrastructure, and the labour market. The authors have presented opportunities and threats related to the functioning of the digital market. These opportunities and threats are typical of highly developed countries while reflecting the specific features of the EU DSM. The starting point of the considerations are the diverse experiences of the EU member states. The book adds a voice to the public debate on the role of the digital economy in the contemporary world and will be a useful guide for students and researchers in economics, law, and international relations. Chapters 1 and 2 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at ww.routledge.com . They have been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Earth Observation (EO) data has become a strategic asset for the European Union. It is a backbone of the European Union external projection capabilities, enabling the monitoring of maritime, land and atmospheric environments, and climate change projections. It is also instrumental in conducting two non-scientific missions, providing emergency management and security services. The economic benefits provided by Copernicus have been estimated to 13.5 billion euro in less than ten years. However, new technologies and data management capabilities may hinder the benefits it provides to European service companies: most Copernicus data are exploited by non-European industries, able to leverage most of the benefits thanks to a robust data storage and analysis infrastructure. Increased economic and security benefits could be extracted from Copernicus data thanks to technological and policy solutions. The technological solution would consist in a European Cloud infrastructure providing storage and analytical capacities to European small and medium enterprises. The policy solution should push for better space data regulation, to guarantee their integrity and use, especially for security services. This paper explores the emerging need of a European space and digital security posture, able to ensure continuity and growth of EU space-based capabilities. While European Space Agency (ESA) EO programmes are growing, the new European Commission DG “Industry, Defence and Space” shall play a key role to reinforce this framework.