The The European Union’s (Regulatory) Path to Sovereignty in the Data-driven Economy
Copyright (c) 2021 András dr. Tóth
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The EU aims to preserve its values in the digital age, and therefore wants to follow its own way in tackling of the challenges of the digital age. The EU has chosen regulation as one of the main tools for achieving digital sovereignty and become the major innovator in the regulation of the digital age in the world. One of the key strategic challenges for the EU in the 21st century is how it can regain control of its data assets. In this context, the EU initiatives taken so far would not limit the data flow to U.S. as a result of the zero-cost business model; therefore, the EU exposure in this field does not seem to be decreased.
Keywords:
References
Facebook ad boycotts. Wikipedia, (é. n.). Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Facebook_ad_boycotts
Állami Számvevőszék: Elemzés a digitális gazdaság megadóztatásának aktuális kérdéseiről, a modern gazdasághoz illeszkedő új uniós adószabályokról értékelő elemzés figyelemmel a terület ellenőrizhetőségére (2020. március 5.).
Apple investigated in UK over ‚unfair’ App Store claims. BBC, 2021. március 4. Online: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56279514
Autorité de la concurrence: L’Autorité rend son avis sur la publicité en ligne (2018. március 6.). Online: https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/fr/communiques-de-presse/lautorite-rend-son-avis-sur-la-publicite-en-ligne
Autorité de la concurrence: L’Autorité publie sa contribution au débat sur la politique de concurrence face aux enjeux posés par l’économie numérique (2020. február 21.). Online: https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/fr/communiques-de-presse/lautorite-publie-sacontribution-au-debat-sur-la-politique-de-concurrence
Autorité de la concurrence: The Autorité de la concurrence hands out a €220 millions fine to Google for favouring its own services in the online advertising sector. 2021. június 7. Online: https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/en/article/autorite-de-la-concurrence-hands-out-eu220-millions-fine-google-favouring-its-own-services
Beyoud, Lydia – Aoife White: Facebook’s Libra Currency Gets European Union Antitrust Scrutiny. Bloomberg, 2019. augusztus 20. Online: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-20/facebook-s-libra-currency-gets-european-union-antitrustscrutiny
Borrett, Amy: Is Chinese investment in Europe’s technology industry a threat? Techmonitor, 2021. április 14. Online: https://techmonitor.ai/policy/geopolitics/is-chineseinvestment-europe-technology-industry-threat
Bryant, Jennifer: 3 years in, GDPR highlights privacy in global landscape. IAPP, 2021. május 25. Online: https://iapp.org/news/a/three-years-in-gdpr-highlightsprivacy-in-global-landscape/
Bundeskartellamt: Amendment of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (2021. január 19.). Online: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2021/19_01_2021_GWB%20Novelle.html
Bundeskartellamt: Bundeskartellamt examines linkage between Oculus and the Facebook network (2020. december 10.). Online: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2020/10_12_2020_Facebook_Oculus.html
Bundeskartellamt: Joint paper of the heads of the national competition authorities of the European Union. How national competition agencies can strengthen the DMA (2021. június 22.). Online: www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Publikation/EN/Others/DMA_ECN_Paper.html;jsessionid=AF567C0C3AB5A4288224A6C113B1A410.1_cid381?nn=3591568
Bunn, Daniel: The U.S. Trade Representative Expands Its Digital Services Tax Investigations. Tax Foundation, 2020. június 2. Online: https://taxfoundation.org/us-trade-representative-ustr-digital-services-tax-investigations/
Candelon, François – Martin Reeves: The New Digital World: Hegemony or Harmony? BCG, 2017. november 14. Online: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/strategy-globalization-new-digital-world-hegemony-harmony
Chee, Foo Yun: EU regulators to probe Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants. Reuters, 2020. július 16. Online: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-antitrust-tech-idUSKCN-24H1VP
Clarke, Laurie: The EU’s crackdown on state-subsidised companies is aimed squarely at China. Techmonitor, 2021. május 6. Online: https://techmonitor.ai/policy/eu-foreign-subsidies-legislation-china
CMA opens investigation into possible abuse of dominance arising from Google’s „Privacy Sandbox” browser changes. Practical Law, 2021. január 8. Online: https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/w-029-1182?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true
Crémer, Jacques – Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye – Heike Schweitzer: Competition Policy for the digital era (final report). European Commission, 2019. Online: https://ec.europa.eu/competition/publications/reports/kd0419345enn.pdf
EDPS: Opinion 8/2016. EDPS Opinion on coherent enforcement of fundamental right since the age of big data (2016. szeptember 23.). Online: https://edps.europa.eu/sites/edp/files/publication/16-09-23_bigdata_opinion_en.pdf
Egresi Katalin – Pongrácz Alex – Szigeti Péter – Takács Péter: Államelmélet. Győr, Széchenyi István Egyetem, 2016. Online: https://jet.sze.hu/images/Tansz%C3%A9ki%20Kiadv%C3%A1nyok%202017-18/allamelmelet_tk_2017_06_05-1.pdf
Espinoza, Javier: Brussels asks news groups to describe their data deals with Google. Financial Times, 2019. december 9. Online: https://www.ft.com/content/a6183776-1a74-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4
Espinoza, Javier – James Politi: US warns EU against anti-American tech policy. Financial Times, 2021. június 15. Online: https://www.ft.com/content/2036d7e9-daa2-445d-8f88-6fcee745a259
Európai Bizottság: A Bizottság Közleménye az Európai Parlamentnek, a Tanácsnak, az Európai Gazdasági és Szociális Bizottságnak és a Régiók Bizottságának: Európa digitális jövőjének megtervezése COM(2020)67 végleges (2020. február 19.). Online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2020:0067:FIN:HU:PDF
Európai Bizottság: A Bizottság Közleménye az Európai Parlamentnek, a Tanácsnak, az Európai Gazdasági és Szociális Bizottságnak és a Régiók Bizottságának: Európai adatstratégia COM(2020) 66 végleges (2020. február 19.). Online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/HU/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0066
Európai Bizottság: Megkezdi működését a közvetlen külföldi befektetésekre vonatkozó uniós átvilágítási mechanizmus (2020. október 9.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/hu/ip_20_1867
Európai Bizottság: A Bizottság új rendeletet terjesztett elő a külföldi támogatások egységes piacon belüli torzító hatásainak kezelése érdekében (2021. május 5.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/hu/ip_21_1982
European Commission: Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct of Amazon (2019. július 17.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/mt/ip_19_4291
European Commission: Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct of Facebook (2021. június 4.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2848
European Commission: Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Amazon for the use of non-public independent seller data and opens second investigation into its e-commerce business practices (2020. november 10.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_2077
European Commission: Antitrust: Commission opens investigations into Apple’s App Store rules (2020. június 16.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1073
European Commission: Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct by Google in the online advertising technology sector (2021. június 22.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_3143
European Commission: Commission proposes measures to boost data sharing and support European data spaces (2020. november 25.). Online: www.ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2102
European Commission: Cloud computing (é. n.). Online: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cloud-computing
European Commission: Commission Report on safety and liability implications of AI, the Internet of Things and Robotics COM(2020) 64 final (2020. február 19.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/commission-report-safety-and-liability-implications-ai-internet-things-and-robotics-0_en
European Commission: Commission Staff Working Document, Impact Assessment Report Accompanying the document Proposal for a Digital Markets Act {COM(2020) 842 final} – {SEC(2020) 437 final} – {SWD(2020) 364 final} (2020. december 15.)
European Commission: Communication from the Commission to European Parliament, European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, A European strategy for data COM(2020) 66 final (2020 február 19.). Online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0066
European Commission: Communication from the Commission to European Parliament, European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions on Artificial Intelligence for Europe COM(2018) 237 final (2018. április 25.). Online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2018%3A237%3AFIN
European Commission: Europe fit for the Digital Age: Commission proposes new rules and actions for excellence and trust in Artificial Intelligence (2021. április 21.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_1682
European Commission: Inception impact assessment on the Ex ante regulatory instrument Ares(2020) 2877647 (2020. december 16.).
European Commission: Shaping Europe’s digital future (é. n.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/shaping-europe-digital-future_en
European Commission: Questions and Answers on a Fair and Efficient Tax System in the EU for the Digital Single Market (2018. március 21.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_18_2141
European Commission: White Paper on Artificial Intelligence – A European approach to excellence and trust COM(2020) 65
final (2020. február 19.). Online: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/commission-white-paper-artificial-intelligence-
feb2020_en.pdf
European Investment Bank – European Commission: Artificial intelligence, blockchain and the future of Europe. How disruptive technologies create opportunities for a green and digital economy (2021). Online: https://www.eib.org/attachments/thematic/artificial_intelligence_blockchain_and_the_future_of_europe_report_en.pdf
European Parliament: Security threats connected with the rising Chinese technological presence in the EU and possible action on the EU level to reduce them (2019. március 12.). Online: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2019-0156_EN.html
Fefer, Rachel F.: EU Digital Policy and International Trade. Congressional Research Service R46732. 2021. március 25. Online: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R46732
Fleming, Sean: What is digital sovereignty and why is Europe so interested in it? World Economic Forum, 2021. március 15. Online: www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/europe-digital-sovereignty/
Gal, Michal – Nicolas Petit: Radical Restorative Remedies for Digital Markets. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 37. (2021), 1.
Gazdasági Versenyhivatal: 1,2 milliárd Ft bírságot szabott ki a Gazdasági Versenyhivatal a Facebook-ra (2019. december 6.). Online: www.gvh.hu/sajtoszoba/sajtokozlemenyek/2019_es_sajtokozlemenyek/12-milliard-ft-birsagot-szabott-ki-a-gazdasagi-versenyhivatal-a-facebook-ra
Georgieva, Kristalina – Federico J. Díez – Romain Duval – Daniel Schwarz: Rising Market Power — A Threat to the Recovery? IMF Blog, 2021. március 15. Online: https://blogs.imf.org/2021/03/15/rising-market-power-a-threat-to-the-recovery/
Government of the Netherlands: Dutch Vision on Data Sharing between Businesses (2019. február 1.) Online: www.government.nl/documents/reports/2019/02/01/dutch-vision-on-data-sharing-between-businesses
Gönczöl Tünde: A hipszter antitrösztirányzat és kritikusai. In Valentiny Pál – Nagy Csongor István – Berezvai Zombor (szerk.): Verseny és Szabályozás 2018. Budapest, MTA KRTK Közgazdaság-tudományi Intézet, 2019. 13–43. Online: https://kti.krtk.hu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Vesz2018_teljes.pdf
Herszenhorn, David M.– Maia De La Baume: Trump slammed her as a U.S. hating ’tax lady’. She just got a promotion. Politico, 2019 november 27. Online: www.politico.com/news/2019/11/27/margarethe-vestager-eu-tax-promotion-074181
Hestermeyer, Holger – Laura Nielsen: The Legality of Local Content Measures under WTO Law. Journal of World Trade, 48. (2014), 3. 553–591.
Hobbs, Carla (szerk.): Europe’s digital sovereignty: From rulemaker to superpower in the age of US–China rivalry. European Council on Foreign Relations, 2020. július 30. Online: https://ecfr.eu/publication/europe_digital_sovereignty_rulemaker_superpower_
age_us_china_rivalry/
Italy fines Google for excluding Enel e-car app from Android Auto. Reuters, 2021. május 13. Online: https://www.reuters.com/technology/italys-antitrust-fines-google-102-million-euros-abuse-dominant-position-2021-05-13/
Janka, Sebastian Felix – Severin Benedict Uhsler: Antitrust 4.0 – the rise of Artificial Intelligence and emerging challenges to antitrust law. European Competition Law Review, 39. (2018), 3. 112.
Keating, Dave: Why the EU leads in digital regulation, but lags in digital innovation. 2019. október 23. Online: https://www.euractiv.com/section/data-protection/news/why-the-eu-leads-in-digital-regulation-but-lags-in-digital-innovation/
Komaitis, Konstantinos – Justin Sherman: US and EU tech strategy aren’t as aligned as you think. Brookings Tech Stream, 2021. május 11. Online: https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/us-and-eu-tech-strategy-arent-as-aligned-as-you-think/
Langvardt, Kyle: Regulating Online Content Moderation. Georgetown Law Journal, 106. (2017), 5. 1353–1388. Online: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3024739
Larger, Thibault: Italy competition watchdog opens probe into Amazon, adding to EU list. Politico, 2019.
április 16. Online: https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-competitionwatchdog-opens-probe-into-amazon-adding-to-eu-list/
Madiega, Tambiama: Digital sovereignty for Europe. European Parliamentary Research Service, PE 651.992 – July 2020.
Madiega, Tambiama: Digital services act. European Parliamentary Research Service, PE 689.357 – March 2021.
Modrall, Jay: Google/Fitbit – The EU Commission Misses a Step. Kluwer Competition Law Blog, 2021. június 17. Online: http://competitionlawblog.kluwercompetitionlaw.com/2021/06/17/google-fitbit-the-eu-commission-misses-a-step/
OECD: What is BEPS? (é. n.). Online: www.oecd.org/tax/beps/about/Opinion 4/2017 of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for a Directive on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content. Online: https://edps.europa.eu/sites/edp/files/publication/17-03-14_opinion_digital_content_en.pdf
Parry, Jacob: MEPs push for rules that allow EC to ‘breakup’ offenders – IMCO, 2021. január 28. Online: https://app.parr-global.com/intelligence/view/intelcms-2ng9mg?utm_source=Notifications&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Alert&utm_term=-5bad06eca3fa340018bd26b6&ssouid=ABADDE3C-90A9-4069-AC3C-FCF30B60C671
Petropoulos, Georgios: The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Competition Policy International, 2021. május 9. Online. https://www.competitionpolicyinternational.com/the-eusdigital-markets-act/
Poitiers, Niclas Frederic – Dennis Görlich: Geopolitical Aspects of Digital Trade. European Union, 2020. Online: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2020/653616/EXPO_IDA(2020)653616_EN.pdf
Posner, Eric A. – E. Glen Weyl: Radical Markets. Princeton University Press, 2018. Online: https://doi.org/10.23943/9781400889457
Rigó Csaba Balázs – Tóth András: A digitális szolgáltatási adó szimbolikus jelentősége és annak gyakorlati következményei. Pénzügyi Szemle, 65. (2020), 4. 516–530. Online: https://doi.org/10.35551/PSZ_2020_4_5
Robertson, Adi: European lawmakers asked Mark Zuckerberg why they shouldn’t break up Facebook. The Verge, 2018. május 22. Online: https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/22/17380982/mark-zuckerberg-european-parliament-meeting-monopoly-antitrust-breakup-question
Schaake, Marietje: How democracies can claim back power in the digital world. MIT Technology Review, 2020. szeptember 29. Online: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/29/1009088/democracies-power-digital-social-media-governance-tech-companies-opinion/
Scherer, Matthew U.: Regulating Artificial Intelligence Systems: Risks, Challenges, Competencies, and Strategies. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, 29. (2016), 2. 353–400. Online: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2609777
Scott, Mark – Jacopo Barigazzi: US and Europe to forge tech alliance amid China’s rise. Politico, 2021. június 9. Online: https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-us-trade-tech-counciljoe-biden-china/
Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms Final Report. Chicago Booth, 2019. szeptember 16. Online: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/stigler/news-and-media/committee-on-digital-platforms-final-report
Stolton, Samuel: LEAK: Commission in bid for EU data sovereignty with digital decade targets. Euractive, 2021. március 8. Online: https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/leak-commission-in-bid-for-eu-data-sovereignty-with-digital-decade-targets/
Tepper, Jonathan – Denise Hearn: The Myth of Capitalism. Monopolies and the Death of Competition. Wiley, 2019.
Tirole, Jean: Telecommunications and competition. In Pierre Buigues – Patrick Rey (szerk.): The Economics of Antitrust and Regulation in Telecommunications. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004. Online: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781843769767.00029
Tirole, Jean: Competition and the Industrial Challenge for the Digital Age. 2020. április 3. Online: https://www.tse-fr.eu/sites/default/files/TSE/documents/doc/by/tirole/competition_and_the_industrial_challenge_april_3_2020.pdf
Tørsløv, Thomas – Ludvig Wier – Gabriel Zucman: The Missing Profits of Nations: 2017 Figures. 2019. Online: https://doi.org/10.3386/w24701
Tóth András: A mesterséges intelligencia szabályozásának paradoxonja és egyes jogi vonatkozásainak alapvető kérdései. Infokommunikáció és Jog, (2019), 2. 3–9. Online: https://infojog.hu/toth-andras-a-mesterseges-intelligencia-szabalyozasanak-paradoxonja-es-egyes-jogi-vonatkozasainak-alapveto-kerdesei-2019-2-73-3-9-o/
Twomey, Paul: Addressing Market Failures to improve the health of the Digital Infrastructure. T20 Policy Brief, 2017. Online: https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/addressing-market-failures-improve-health-digital-infrastructure/
United Nations: Digital Economy Report 2019. Online: https://unctad.org/webflyer/digital-economy-report-2019
Unlocking Digital Competition. Report of the Digital Competition Expert Panel. 2019. Online: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/785547/unlocking_digital_competition_furman_review_web.pdf
Valero, Jorge: The EU’s digital tax is dead, long live the OECD’s plans. Euractive, 2019. március 8. Online: https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/the-eusdigital-tax-is-dead-long-live-the-oecds-plans/
Versluis, Esther – Marjolein van Asselt – Tessa Fox – Anique Hommels: Calculable Risks? An Analysis of the European Seveso Regime. In Morag Goodwin – Bert-Jaap Koops – Ronald Leenes (szerk.): Dimension of Technology Regulations. Wolf Legal Publishers, 2010. 264.
Vig Zoltán: The Regulation of Screening of Foreign Direct Investments in the European Union. Pro Futuro, 10. (2021), 4.
–24. Online: https://doi.org/10.26521/profuturo/2020/4/9463
Vincent, James: Obama accuses EU of attacking American tech companies because it ‚can’t compete’. The Verge, 2015. február 17. Online: https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/17/8050691/obama-our-companies-created-the-internet
Viscusi, W. Kip – Joseph E. Harrington – John M. Vernon: Economics of Regulation and Antitrust. 4th Edition. MIT Press Books, 2005.
Wiener, Jonathan B.: The regulation of technology, and the technology of regulation. Technology in Society, 26. (2004), 2–3. 483–500. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2004.01.033
The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data. The Economist, 2017. május 6. Online: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/05/06/the-worlds-most-valuable-resource-is-no-longer-oil-but-data
Ződi Zsolt: Az USA Igazságügyi Minisztériumának keresete a Google ellen – a versenyjog dilemmái a platformgazdaságban. Gazdaság és Jog, 28. (2020), 10. 6–8.