Workshop — Towards a Competitive Digital EU: Regulatory Effectiveness in Practice

The SmartLawHub, in partnership with the Brussels Privacy Hub is organising a workshop in connection with the forthcoming special issue Towards a Competitive Digital EU: Addressing and Overcoming the Barriers to Regulatory Effectiveness, recently announced in Computer Law & Security Review.

The event will take place at HEC Paris on 23–24 March and will bring together academics, practitioners, and policy-oriented researchers working on digital regulation, governance of emerging technologies, and the broader question of regulatory effectiveness in the EU digital ecosystem.

The workshop is intended as a focused exchange around ongoing research, draft contributions to the special issue, and adjacent work on data governance, AI regulation, enforcement capacity, and competitiveness challenges faced by European actors. The objective is less formal presentation than substantive discussion, cross-fertilisation of perspectives, and sharpening of analytical approaches ahead of publication.

The provisional agenda is as follows:

Monday, 23 March

12:30–13:30 — Light Lunch (on site)

13:30–13:45 — Introduction
13:45–14:30 — Keynote: Comparative Perspectives

Regulatory Complexity: Bug or Feature?

14:30–15:30

Has Complexity of EU Law Increased?

Innovation and GDPR: Much Ado About Quite a Lot

Methods for Analysing Legislative Inflation

Aiming for Regulatory and Policy Coherence: Challenges and Opportunities

Discussant session

15:30–15:45 — Break

Delivering Growth Through Regulatory Simplification: Are We Looking in the Right Direction?

15:45–16:30

Escaping the Simplification Trap: A Playbook for the EU’s Digital Rulebook

False Choices: Competitiveness, Deregulation, and the Erosion of GDPR’s Regulatory Integrity

Simplification: The Real Key to Success

Discussant session

16:30–16:45 — Break

Connecting the Dots Between EU Data Regulations: Are We Aligning Priorities?

16:45–17:45

Resolving the Value-for-Risk Dilemma by Data Governance Laws and Other Mechanisms

Giving EU Data Governance Law a Second Life: From Rebranding to Real-World Impact

Traceability for Privacy: A Foundational Pillar for an Effective and Competitive EU Digital Rulebook

Discussant session

19:00–21:00 — Dinner

Tuesday, 24 March

08:30–08:45 — Welcome

Assessing Impact Assessment Methods and Templates: Is Convergence Achievable?

08:45–09:45

Clarity, Cost, and Compliance: Interpretative Fragmentation in EU Data Protection Impact Assessments

Impact Assessment Requirements in the GDPR vs the AI Act: Overlaps, Divergence, and Implications

Discussant session

09:45–10:00 — Break

Consent, Fairness, and Power in EU Platform and Data Regulation: Do We Have the Means to Act?

10:00–11:00

Can the GPC Standard Eliminate Consent Banners in the EU?

A Fairness Benchmark in EU Platform Regulation: Moving Beyond Fragmented Protections

Discussant session

11:00–11:15 — Break

Determinants of AI Competitiveness: Are We Focused on the Real Constraints?

11:15–12:30

What Are AI Systems? Rethinking the Core Definition in the EU AI Act

Market Concentration, Algorithmic Collusion, and Competition Law in AI and DeepTech

Anti-competitive AI Systems: Effective and Proportionate Regulatory Design

Discussant session

12:30–13:00 — Closing Keynote: Enforcement of the AI Act — What’s Next?

13:00–14:30 — Lunch

For further information or participation inquiries, please contact the organisers directly through SmartLawHub.