No to free data flow language in trade deals, the Commission’s justice department argues, pitting it against the trade directorate.
EU digital
TiSA,TTIP: EU and US battle over “new services”
USTR is stepping up its offensive moves to get the interests of its competitive digital industry heard in international trade talks. The EU has already been feeling the heat in TiSA and TTIP as transatlantic negotiations move from Geneva to Brussels this week. New services are among the key issues …
Call for ‘prudential carve-out’ for data flows in trade talks post Privacy Shield
While businesses hope that with the Privacy Shield, the EU will become more active in combating forced data localisations abroad, consumer and privacy activists in the EU are stepping up efforts to carve out privacy rules from free trade rules.
In Brief: Privacy Shield scrutinised by member states
The Commission has been renegotiating some aspects of the Privacy Shield concluded in April. This is the deal that replaces the defunct Safe Harbor that allows US business to transfer personal data from the EU to the US. The Commission went back to Washington, after initial criticisms of the Privacy …
Digital Europe calls for EU Turkey customs union upgrade
The business association Digital Europe is trying to fight against rising protectionism in the information technology sector in Turkey. In a new report released on Friday (17 June), the business group calls for a speedup of current attempts to launch negotiations to modernise the 1995 EU Turkey customs union. The …
Interview: Nairobi shows WTO is still a player in trade negotiations
The last Nairobi WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi did not reaffirm the original mandate of the 2001 Doha Development Agenda, to the disappointment of some WTO members. It has nonetheless delivered significant results, and shown that the WTO is sill a player in global trade negotiations, argues Stuart Harbinson* in a an exclusive interview with Borderlex’s …
Blog – TPP’s electronic commerce chapter: EU trade buffs take note
Just in case you’ve missed it, on Monday 5 October the US and eleven other Asian and Latin American countries concluded a historic regional free trade agreement that covers about 40 percent of world output, the Transpacific Partnership. The summary of the agreement is on the United States Trade Representative’s website. EU trade buffs need to …
Opinion: Why services negotiations should become a priority in TTIP
The contribution of the services sector to value creation, jobs, the digital economy and SME development has long been underestimated, so has the importance of reducing barriers to international competition – in other words ‘trade’ – in the services sector. It is time to make services trade liberalisation a priority …
EU privacy rule overhaul and Safe Harbour talks hold back EU in TISA
Unfinished business in updating a bilateral agreement on data protection with the United States – Safe Harbour – and delays in finalising an overhaul of the EU’s data protection laws initiated three years ago have been holding back Brussels from tabling proposals on e-commerce and data flows in TiSA negotiations. By Iana Dreyer …
Measured reception of digital single market strategy amid concerns over barriers to trade
The digital single market strategy announced in Brussels on 6 May 2015 was well received in the public and economic circles, but many argue it leaves out crucial areas of today’s digital economy. Iana Dreyer in Brussels.
