Project

Background
The Module is taught in the Department of Sociology and Economic Law of the University of Bologna (IT). The Department has a track-record of excellence in teaching and research in sociology, economics, and law at the national and international levels. As a unique asset, the Department hosts the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ‘Consumers and SMEs in the Digital Single Market’ (Digi-ConSME, 610728, co-funded 2019-2023). It also hosted the Jean Monnet Chair in ‘EU Digital Market Law’ (E-DSM – 101047038, co-funded 2022-2025) and takes part in the Jean Monnet Network ‘European Network on Digitalisation and E-Governance’ (ENDE – 101127038, co-funded 2023-present).

Aim and Rationale

The digital revolution and technologies are transforming the economy and social relations across the world. At the same time, they pose unprecedented policy and regulatory challenges, and undermine existing legal frameworks and principles. Digitalisation presents opportunities and risks for the European economy and market players. Fundamental rights and other economic rights are involved (e.g. data protection, ownership and property, contracts). Within the process of digitalisation, the EU Digital Single Market attempts to remove regulatory barriers and move from national markets to a single EU market. Innovation and the Digital Single Market have become pivotal not only to the process of European integration, but also for the global economic challenge and competitiveness vis-à-vis extra-EU countries such as the United States, China and India, to name the ones at the vanguard of technological innovations. The achievement of a EU Digital Single Market is a policy high on the agenda of the EU, especially under the Recovery Plan and the rebuilding of Europe for future generations. Regulation plays a pivotal role in the shaping of a EU single market fit for a sustainable digital economy, ensuring an optimal economic and social balance. Also, a properly regulated market offers an unprecedented opportunity for a competitive model in the world economy.

Within this framework, the policy and legal themes posed by digitalisation are multiple. In recent times, several new EU Directives, Regulations, legislative proposals or policy strategies have attempted to deal with some of the new challenges presented in the digital age. Yet, it remains to be seen to what extent EU law deals with the issues of new and emerging technologies adequately.

D-Law will concentrate on data and their multi-faceted regulation. For some time, data have been branded as the “new oil” (terminology introduced by British mathematician Clive Humby at the 2006 Association of National Advertisers conference), as they fuel all the data-driven technologies that not only are powering digital markets, but that are also considered the key drivers of innovation and economic growth. In the last few years, the EU has witnessed the evolution of data regulation from the need to protect personal data to regulate access to, and sharing of, both personal and non-personal data – the whole through control over data, data sharing, and data analytics. Hence, this area of law has been transformed from ‘Data Protection Law’ to ‘Data Law’ to express an evolutionary view of a significant regulatory expansion in the scope of data and data governance. It also shows how regulation has responded to the digital challenges and its reach to new activities, risks and actors.

The teaching activities of the Module will be delivered covering the following aspects, divided in introductory courses, core teaching, and specialised side teaching:

-       Introductory courses on the fundamentals of EU law and EU market law (e.g. institutional aspects, law making process and functioning of EU law, free movement provisions, etc.);

-       Core teaching on the General data Protection Regulation (GDPR), i.e. the piece of legislation that sets the milestone and initial step in the journey of data governance. Its objective is to achieve consistent and effective legal implementation and application of the fundamental right to protection of personal data in all areas of the EU’s activities, alongside the facilitation of free movement of such data while continuing to guarantee a high level of protection of individuals. In essence, it establishes rules on the mechanisms for processing data and their free movement in the EU, empowering individuals to control them and reflecting a rights-based approach to data governance;

-       Core teaching on key legal aspects of datafication in their policy context that impact the envisaged European digital markets and the creation of a single European Data Space, conceived as a “genuine single market for data (…) where personal as well as non-personal data (…) are secure and businesses also have easy access to an almost infinite amount of high-quality data”. These aspects not only include data protection law, but also issues over the economic value of data, the distinction between personal and non-personal data, proprietary data rights, and competition law. The digital expansion has placed data at the centre of major economic and social transformations. After all, to the extent that data are the lifeblood of innovation, they have become an essential resource to create innovative products and services in the Single Market;

-       Core teaching on the Data Act. To make the EU a leader in the data-driven economy and achieve a properly functioning European data space that could enable a fair distribution of the value of data, it aims to establish clear and fair rules for accessing and using data within the European data economy. It is a horizontal measure that introduces changes to how data is accessed, shared, and managed across various sectors, as well as obligations to improve data portability and protect intellectual property and outlines (emergency or crisis) conditions under which public sector bodies may access private sector data. Its primary objectives are to promote fair use of data, prevent imbalances in the market, and foster innovation. The Data Act also emphasises the importance of data literacy.

-       Specialised teaching in the form of side seminars covering in-depth aspects of the core teaching and/or case studies.

Main activities and outputs

The activities of D-Law will address in many ways the regulation of data in their rights-based, economic, and social context:

• Teaching. Design and delivery of the academic module in ‘Data Law’ (introductory sessions, core teaching, and side specialised seminars for a total of 63 hours per year, divided as follows: 6 hours of introductory course on the fundamentals of EU Law, 30 hours on the core teaching, 27 hours for the delivery of 9 specialised side seminars of 3 hours each.

The teaching will cover the following areas:

1)     Fundamentals of EU Law (introductory teaching to provide the necessary background to non-law students);

2)     Data Protection Law (core and specialised teaching);

3)     Intellectual Property Law in relation to data and the data economy, data ownership and control, gatekeeping (core and specialised teaching);

4)     The regulation of non-personal data (core and specialised teaching);

5)     Data sharing and data-access law - Data Act (core and specialised teaching);

6)     Coordination among applicable legal instruments - including other relevant EU legislation such as the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, the AI Act - (specialised teaching).