The EU's digital trade policy

European Parliament - EPRS Policy podcasts

European Parliament Webmaster

Government & Organizations, Non-profit

4.8 • 13 Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2024

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Digital trade has become a key element in the EU's trade policy. The EU is the world's largest exporter and importer of digitally deliverable services and has a strong market position. Therefore, the development towards more digital trade provides opportunities for European consumers, for the economy and for the EU’s green and digital transition. The key difference between digital trade and traditional trade is the prominence of cross-border data flows. However, certain data are considered 'sensitive' and require protection and/or specific processing conditions.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcasts.
0:05.9	Digital trade is on the rise, and as the world's largest exporter and importer of digitally delivered services, the stakes for the EU are high.
0:15.2	Stay with us and we'll walk you through the ins and outs of the EU's digital trade policy and review challenges and opportunities.
0:24.6	Ever bought an e-book? Subscribe to a streaming platform like Netflix or used the Uber app. Well,
0:32.0	then you're one of the millions of EU citizens benefiting from the advantages of digital trade.
0:38.0	But what exactly is digital trade?
0:41.7	Although there is no internationally agreed definition,
0:45.4	digital trade refers to commerce enabled by electronic means in both goods and services.
0:51.4	And while there's no clear measurement of how large the sector is,
0:55.6	the OECD estimates it to be around 25% of total trade. And these are 2020 figures. So by now,
1:03.6	it's surely more. Aware that digital technologies offer enormous growth potential for Europe,
1:09.2	the EU has a series of trade agreements in place covering digital trade
1:13.6	and has adopted a number of laws and strategies to advance its digital transition, such as the Data Governance Act, the Digital Services Act, or the Data and the AI Act.
1:25.6	And data is the lifeblood of this digital economy.
1:29.3	It's therefore vital that EU companies can move their data freely across borders,
1:34.3	but data, or at least certain categories of data, are considered sensitive and require protection.
1:40.3	That's why the EU aims to safeguard the balance between the free flow of data and the preservation of privacy, security, safety and ethical standards.
1:50.0	The problem is, there's still no globally accepted standard or definition of data privacy in the online world,
1:57.0	nor binding multilateral rules for cross-border data flows and privacy.
2:02.5	That's why nearly 90 members of the World Trade Organization, including EU member states,
2:08.5	are currently engaged in e-commerce negotiations at the WTO.
2:12.9	As the world's largest exporter and importer of digitally deliverable services, the EU has a strong
	...

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