Digital Trade in the AustraliaEU FTA: A Future-Forward Perspective

Neha Mishra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper assesses the significance of the Digital Trade Chapter of the Australia EU FTA and focuses on the disciplines necessary to boost digital trade. In the ongoing negotiations, the EU and Australia are likely to agree upon conventional digital trade disciplines (e.g., e-signatures, e-authentication, paperless trading, customs duties on electronic transmissions) as well as provisions on online consumer trust and spam, and more contemporary disciplines on source code disclosure and data localization. These disciplines can undoubtedly contribute to boosting digital trade between Australia and the EU. However, data flows and data protection will remain a sticky issue in the ongoing negotiations, given the differences in data protection laws of the EU and Australia, and the EUs exceptionally defensive approach in data protection. Instead of bypassing such issues, the FTA negotiators should view the negotiations as an opportunity to build mutual consensus and foster cooperation in formulating standards and mechanisms for data transfer. Further, the negotiations provide an opportunity for adopting deeper disciplines on digital trade facilitation that can nurture start-ups as well as experimenting with novel models for regulatory cooperation in nascent policy areas including AI ethics and open government data.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)32pp
JournalEuropean Yearbook of International Economic Law
Volume12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Digital Trade in the AustraliaEU FTA: A Future-Forward Perspective'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this