General Principles of EU Law and the EU Digital Order

Digitalization of societies has important ramifications for citizens and businesses. The digital landscape is rapidly changing, whereas at the same time there are growing concerns about how market access in the EU’s digital market as well as fundamental rights can be sufficiently safeguarded in the shadow of ‘big data’ and algorithms. This timely and important book presents expert analyses of how digitalization raises questions of the future role for general principles of European Union (EU) law, including the foundational principles of the EU’s fundamental economic freedoms and EU competition rules.

Examining a number of issues revolving around the internal market, the digital single market, competition law, intellectual property, data protection, democracy and the rule of law, the contributors provide deeply informed insights of the challenges as to:

• effects of the technological disruption on the doctrine of general principles;
• the resilience of general principles in the digital society;
• the need to rely on new general principles in the digital society;
• the realization of the digital single market;
• the safeguarding of fundamental rights and the rule of law.

The contributors are highly esteemed scholars from major European universities. A common theme is the need for judicial evolution of EU fundamental rights law in the digital era, alongside penetrating analyses of recent Court of Justice of the European Union case law on the impact of digitalization.

Dealing as it does with an area of European law of particular complexity and rapidly growing importance, the anthology provides insights and knowledge about the ways in which digitalization is rapidly changing EU law. Are general principles of EU law as developed in an ‘analogue world’ sufficiently resilient to withstand the rapid and often disruptive developments taking place in the digital marketplace? The fresh look at the concept of ‘general principles’ taken by the various contributors helps to clarify the actual application in EU law in areas related to the ongoing digitalization of our society. It will be greatly appreciated by practitioners, policymakers and academics active in any of the many fields of law affected by the digital revolution.