Project description
Updating trade law to meet the needs of digital transformation
Data has emerged as an important topic in contemporary law and policy, as it affects all societal areas and is meant to serve as an engine of growth and innovation. Yet, while we live in the time of Industry 4.0 our trade rules are still grounded at 1.0. The EU-funded TRADE LAW 4.0 project will address this mismatch by conducting research in three interrelated fields. The efforts aim to enhance our understanding of the implications of digital disruption for trade law, identify viable mechanisms for reconciling economic and non-economic objectives, and ultimately suggest design for trade law that reflects the features of the data-driven economy and can be sustainable in an environment of fluid technological change.
Objective
Data has been conceptualized as the ‘new oil’ and although this is a flawed statement, it catches well the value attached to data as a driver of economic growth and innovation, and as a force of change in all facets of societal life. Accordingly, data has emerged as an important topic in contemporary law and policy—on the one hand, because it is critical to understand whether and how different societal areas have been affected by digital transformations, including disruptive phenomena like Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and on the other hand, because governance toolkits, including legal rules, need to adapt to reflect these implications. Despite the urgency attached to both tasks and the intensified mobilization of policy and research efforts to address them, the topic of data-driven transformation has been explored in a fragmented manner. The domain of trade law has been particularly slow to react—neither do we have a full understanding of the impact of digitization on the entire body of global trade rules, nor have we seen legal adaptation. To put it plainly, despite living in times of industries 4.0 we have trade rules grounded at 1.0.
The project addresses these flaws by conducting research in three interrelated fields that seek to: (1) enhance our understanding of the implications of digital disruption for trade law and vice versa, including through a thorough analysis of all existing trade rules that matter for data, as it flows across borders and is regulated domestically; (2) boost our toolkits for tackling the tensions inherent to the data-driven economy by mapping and analyzing all available mechanisms for reconciling economic and non-economic objectives, with a strong focus on data protection but including also other values, such as freedom of speech, that may be important for national constituencies; and ultimately, (3) suggest design for trade law that can be sustainable in an environment of fluid technological change.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
6002 Luzern
Switzerland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.