EU 'Not Going To Be Lectured' on Free Flow of Data in DSM Talks, Delegation Official Says
The EU wants to include the private sector in work on its digital single market (DSM) strategy, but “we're not going to be lectured by the private sector on what constitutes a free flow of data within the European Union,” said Andrea Glorioso, Delegation of the EU to the U.S. counselor-digital economy/cyber. “We're not going to be fooled by claims unless those claims are substantiated by hard data.” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other backers of the EU's 16-point DSM strategy, unveiled in May (see 1505060038 and 1505070053), believe the strategy will promote e-commerce across the EU's 28 member nations by overhauling the EU's telecom rules and harmonizing members states' regulations in areas like copyright law.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The EU is “very well aware” that U.S. stakeholders are troubled by portions of the DSM strategy, including how it relates to the free flow of data and the perception that the strategy favors European incumbents over U.S. and other outside players, Glorioso said at Thursday's Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and Technology Policy Institute event. “I cannot honestly see in the [DSM strategy] an attempt to exclude other players.” Some European incumbents and other stakeholders may be campaigning for the DSM to exclude U.S. companies, but “at the end of the day we do not see anything that can conceivably be seen as specifically targeted at U.S. companies,” he said. Any company that operates with EU member states will need to “abide by European rules.”
U.S. stakeholders seek “an open dialogue and an open door” with the EU as it works on the DSM strategy, said Daniel Sepulveda, State Department coordinator for international communications and information policy. “We have seen that thus far” from the EU and will work to promote “a free and open Internet environment” consistent with prevailing U.S. policy, he said. The U.S. wants to “make the most of this opportunity” to work with the EU given that the scope of the EU's challenge in executing the DSM strategy is “immense” and U.S. stakeholders' concerns about portions of the strategy are legitimate, Sepulveda said.
The EU recognizes that the DSM strategy is “ambitious,” but its supporters “think that tough times require tough measures,” Glorioso said. The 16 steps in the DSM strategy “are all necessary,” but the EU is likely to prioritize action on those steps based on which proposals are farthest along in development, Glorioso said. “It makes no sense to move 16 actions in parallel” if some actions require more assessment and public consultations than others, he said. Facebook Vice President-Policy, Europe Richard Allan identified the flow of digital goods and IP rights as the top DSM priorities the EU needs to address, saying content licensing is still a nation-by-nation issue in Europe and every national government has a “vested interest” in maintaining control of licensing in their territory. ITIF Director-Global Innovation Economy Stephen Ezell said the EU should refrain from address geoblocking as part of the DSM, saying the U.S.-based association believes geoblocking practices “support the production and distribution” of digital content.
Wiley Rein lawyer David Gross, former State Department coordinator for international communications and information policy, said the EU faces bigger challenges in confronting the political debate over its identity as it implements the DSM strategy. The debate over the DSM is influenced by the debate over whether “Europe is one” or is 28 separate states that unify for certain purposes, he said. “These are much bigger issues” than the sector-specific issues that stakeholders are concerned about, Gross said, adding that he isn't optimistic that the EU will be able to end up the DSM implementation with all issues “tied up in a bow.”