Originally published on February 16, 2018 on LinkedIn Articles https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trade-policy-meets-digital-storm-tiago-cunha-martins/
Today’s FT edition reports on the consequences of the Digital Technology evolution that has brought to one of the most “nurtured” EU policies these days, Trade Policy.
The experts used to argue about Tariff cuts or marketing opening opportunities for several products. Many of them have even been involved in a multilateral talk on how to regulate the services business in the international trade area (TiSA – Trade in Services Agreement). What most weren’t paying attention to, but they will do now, is that the “fuel” of nowadays economy is less and less the “propellers” of physical materials (such as gasoline), but the “digital bits” that value something to someone, the so-called “DATA”.
Data flows, the inevitable movement of Data between economic agents and its need to regulate and set the “level playing field” has now much more “public exposure”. And the article basically goes around a big dilemma the EU has to tackle in the upcoming years:
“(…) On the one hand, the EU is in a rush to complete accords [Free Trade Agreements] with Japan, South Korea, and Latin America to show that Europe will keep flying the flag for free trade in the era of Trump and Brexit.
On the other hand, the EU has an inalienable right to personal privacy. Capitals led by Paris and Berlin fear globalisation, and powerful multinationals are eroding privacy rights and playing fast and loose with citizens’ information. (…)”
How to square the circle on how to enshrine Data flow regulation in a legally binding document between two economic partner regions. Especially if they need to be discussed upon recent developments on what the EU thinks about “21st century Free Trade Agreements” are meant to be; data also includes rules/instructions on Social issues such as employment and social rights, environment protection or Human rights.
An article worth it’s reading: +Info: https://www.ft.com/content/ed7e8902-0f8c-11e8-940e-08320fc2a277
Photo credits: http://e15initiative.org/publications/data-moving-across-borders-the-future-of-digital-trade-polic
