Formation/Cours

Course overview

This graduate-level course delves into European Union (EU) digital policies, contextualized within the profound societal, economic, and administrative transformations catalyzed by digitalization. These shifts, while offering unprecedented opportunities, have far-reaching implications that are unevenly distributed across sectors, regions, and social groups, often exacerbating existing inequalities. Recognizing these challenges, the EU has developed a multifaceted framework of policies and initiatives aimed at fostering a digital environment that is equitable, inclusive, and rights-based. However, such attempts have not always been successful.

The course critically examines the EU’s approach to digitalization. Key topics include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Through the lens of political science and legal studies, the course provides a comprehensive understanding of how these frameworks address complex issues such as privacy, accountability, platform governance, and digital sovereignty.

Particular emphasis is placed on human rights challenges, such as safeguarding fundamental rights in the digital age, mitigating algorithmic biases, and ensuring equitable access to digital tools and services. The course also explores broader socio-political themes, including the EU’s global influence, its interactions with Big Tech, and the implications of digital colonialism for the Global South. Students will critically analyse how digitalization intersects with fundamental rights, addressing emerging vulnerabilities and ethical considerations.

A dynamic and interactive learning environment is fostered through a mix of frontal lectures, debates, and policy simulations. Students will actively engage in discussions on key readings, debates on regulatory priorities, and simulations of EU policymaking processes. This participatory approach ensures that students not only acquire theoretical knowledge but also develop practical skills in critical analysis, policy evaluation, and collaborative problem-solving.

By the end of the course, students will have gained a nuanced understanding of the EU’s digital policymaking landscape. They will be equipped to analyse and evaluate the societal, economic, and legal dimensions of digitalization, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to contemporary debates and future developments in this critical area of governance.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of European Union (EU) digital policies, including key principles, legal frameworks, and historical developments.
• Understand the peculiarities of the EU policies in comparison with other regulatory models abroad, and their effects beyond the EU’s borders.
• Critically evaluate the legislative developments within the EU’s digital policy and analyse their impact on the digital economy and stakeholders in the EU and abroad.
• Effectively communicate complex ideas related to the EU and global digital policies.
• Synthesize knowledge acquired throughout the course to analyse and present an in-depth understanding of specific topics related to EU and global digital policies in the final papers.

COURSE OUTLINE & SCHEDULE

SESSION 1: Course introduction and Overview of EU Digital Policies (17/01/25, 10am-1pm)

• Introduction to the course, objectives, and expectations
• Overview of the syllabus and assignments
• Cross-time overview of EU policies in the ICT and digital sector
• Overview of salient issues in digital policymaking

Compulsory reading: have an in-depth look at “A Europe fit for the digital age”, European Commission. https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en

Suggested readings:

• D’Ignazio, C. & Klein, L. F. (2020). Introduction: Why Data Science Needs Feminism. In Data Feminism (pp.1-19). The MIT Press. https://data-feminism.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/frfa9szd/release/6
• Zuboff, S. (2019). Introduction. In The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Public Affairs.

SESSION 2: Legal frameworks: the rights-driven regulatory model (17/01/25, 3pm-6pm)

• Introduction to the rights-driven regulatory model
• Overview of GDPR and AIA: main principles and objectives
• Key developments and scholarly perspectives in the literature
• Discussion of critical issues: discrimination and biases, impact assessments, right to explanation and accountability, automated decision-making

Compulsory reading: Bradford, A. (2023). The European Rights-Driven Regulatory Model. In Digital empires: The global battle to regulate technology. Oxford University Press.

Suggested reading: Veale, M. and Zuiderveen Borgesius, F. (2021). Demystifying the Draft EU Artificial Intelligence Act — Analysing the good, the bad, and the unclear elements of the proposed approach. Computer Law Review International, 22(4), pp.97-112. https://doi.org/10.9785/cri-2021-220402

SESSION 3: The DSA and DMA and the politics of EU-Big Tech relations (24/01/25, 10am-1pm)

• Overview of the DSA and DMA
• Analysis of the political shifts in the EU’s approach to Big Tech between the pre-2020 period and today
• Analysis of Big Tech’s evolving role in EU digital society

Compulsory reading: Hoeffler, C., & Mérand, F. (2023). Digital sovereignty, economic ideas, and the struggle over the digital markets act: a political-cultural approach. Journal of European Public Policy, 31(8), 2121–2146. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2294144

Suggested readings:

• Griffin, R. (2023). Public and private power in social media governance: multistakeholderism, the rule of law and democratic accountability. Transnational Legal Theory, 14(1), 46–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/20414005.2023.2203538
• Heidebrecht, S. (2024) “From market liberalism to public intervention: Digital sovereignty and changing European union digital single market governance.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 62(1), 205-223. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13488

SESSION 4: The EU in a global perspective – the three digital governance models, the Brussels effect and digital colonialism (28/01/25, 10am-1pm)

• Overview of the three main digital governance models and their nuances
• Analysis and problematization of the Brussels effect, including from the perspective of Global South countries
• Analysis of digital colonialism and its intersections with the EU’s regulatory efforts

Compulsory reading: Bradford, A. (2023). Introduction, in Digital empires: The global battle to regulate technology. Oxford University Press.

Sugges