Trade Law for the Data-Driven Economy

Project Information

TRADE LAW 4.0

Grant agreement ID: 101003216

DOI

10.3030/101003216

EC signature date 4 February 2021

Start date 1 September 2021

End date 31 August 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 600 975,00

EU contribution

€ 1 600 975,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT LUZERN
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TRADE LAW 4.0 (Trade Law for the Data-Driven Economy)

Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project Trade Law 4.0: Trade Law for the Data-Driven Economy explores the role of global trade law in the broader area of data governance.

Data has undoubtedly emerged as a critical topic in contemporary law and policy. On the one hand, because it is important 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, have failed to keep pace with the rapidly changing technological advancements and need to adapt to reflect these developments. 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 and adapt and we still lack a full understanding of the impact of digitization on the entire body of global trade rules. To put it plainly, despite living in times of industries 4.0 we have trade rules grounded at 1.0.

The Trade Law 4.0 project addresses these gaps 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 (3) suggest design for trade law that can be sustainable in an environment of fluid technological change. The project's own dataset (TAPED) that covers all trade treaties since 2000 of relevance to the regulation of the data economy as well as the project's results can be found at: https://digitaltradelaw.ch/.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project has made substantial progress in addressing its research agenda. Important part of this is linked to the project's dataset of all trade agreements dealing with digital trade (https://unilu.ch/taped) which has been now expanded to cover also broader issues relevant to the regulation of the data-driven economy. The project has also published more than 20 articles and chapters that analyze the newer developments in the area of digital trade law and this has made a sizeable contribution to the state of the art. Key such contributions to be noted cover the new generation of Digital Economy Agreements as a novel instrument of treaty-making, as well as the pertinent developments under the World Trade Organization (WTO) towards the adoption of a plurilateral agreement on digital trade. This research exposure has also permitted the project team to participate in important scientific events and engage in policy discussions in the WTO, OECD, WEF and others. The project also organized an event on its own dedicated to the topic of Trade Law 4.0 that took place in Washington, DC and aimed to bridge the transatlantic debates and provide for a constructive and inclusive discussion on the present and future of digital trade rulemaking.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project has definitively moved beyond the state of the art and has contextualized, interlinked and closely analyzed the progress of digital trade rulemaking that was missing in the literature. Newer topics have been taken onboard - such as those related to the Digital Economy Agreements, the plurilateral negotiations of an electronic commerce agreement, more recent regional developments and the new geopolitics of digital trade law. As the underlying technology itself has rapidly advanced, the project has explored the new data economy issues and the complex linkages between domestic and international data governance regimes. The project has contributed in particular by looking at the interfaces between privacy and trade but also by exploring the relationship between digital trade law and other human rights, as well as issues of inequality and sustainability. The project will continue its work on these emerging issues and certainly explore more closely the regulation of artificial intelligence and trade law in the remaining time of project's duration.