The Regulation of Digital Technologies in the EU: : The law-making phenomena of “act-ification”, “GDPR mimesis” and “EU law brutality”

Vagelis Papakonstantinou; Paul De Hert

doi:10.26116/techreg.2022.005

Authors

Vagelis Papakonstantinou VUB
Paul De Hert VUB/Tilburg University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26116/techreg.2022.005

Keywords:

EU technology regulation, act-ification of EU law, GDPR mimesis in EU law, EU law brutality, EU technology regulation, act-ification of EU law, GDPR mimesis in EU law,

Abstract

EU regulatory initiatives on technology-related topics has spiked over the past few years. On the basis of its Priorities Programme 2019-2024, while creating “Europe fit for the Digital Age”, the EU Commission has been busy releasing new texts aimed at regulating a number of technology topics, including, among others, data uses, online platforms, cybersecurity, or artificial intelligence. This paper identifies three basic phenomena common to all, or most, EU new technology-relevant regulatory initiatives, namely (a) “act-ification”, (b) “GDPR mimesis”, and (c) “regulatory brutality”. These phenomena divulge new-found confidence on the part of the EU technology legislator, who has by now asserted for itself the right to form policy options and create new rules in the field for all of Europe. These three phenomena serve as indicators or early signs of a new European technology law-making paradigm that by now seems ready to emerge.

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Author Biographies

Vagelis Papakonstantinou, VUB

Vagelis Papakonstantinou is a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law and Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Paul De Hert, VUB/Tilburg University

Paul De Hert is a Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law and Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel & an Associate Professor at the Tilburg Law School, Tilburg University.