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.

A list of participants can be found here.

The final agenda is as follows:

Monday, 23 March 2026

12:15–13:15 — Light lunch (on site)

13:15–13:30 — Introduction
David Restrepo Amariles (HEC Paris)
Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon (Brussels Privacy Hub, VUB)

13:30–14:00 — Introductory Remarks
Daniel Trnka (OECD)
Understanding Simplification in the Regulatory Agenda

Panel 1: Delivering Growth Through Regulatory Simplification: Are We Looking in the Right Direction?

14:00–14:45

• Kai Zenner (European Parliament)
  Escaping the Simplification Trap: a Playbook for the EU’s Digital Rulebook
• Moritz Ader (OECD)
  Simplification: The Real Key to Success in Digital Regulations
• Nathalie Cohen (OECD)
  Better Regulation for the Digital Sector

Discussant: David Restrepo Amariles (HEC Paris)

14:45–15:00 — Break

Panel 2: Regulatory Complexity: Bug or Feature?

15:00–16:00

• Jukka Ruohonen (University of Southern Denmark)
  Has Complexity of EU Law Increased?
• Nicholas Martin (Fraunhofer ISI)
  Innovation and GDPR: Much Ado About Quite a Lot
• Rashad Abelson (OECD)
  Aiming for Regulatory and Policy Coherence: Challenges and Opportunities

Discussant: Jean-Edouard Colliard (HEC Paris)

Panel 3: Connecting the Dots Between EU Data Regulations: Are We Aligning Priorities?

16:00–17:00

• Max von Grafenstein (Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society / Law & Innovation)
  Resolving the Value-for-Risk Dilemma by Data (Governance) Laws and Other Mechanisms
• Itxaso Dominguez (EDRi)
  False Choices: Competitiveness, Deregulation, and the Erosion of GDPR’s Regulatory Integrity
• Barbara Lazarotto (Brussels Privacy Hub, VUB)
  Giving EU Data Governance Law a Second Life: From Rebranding to Real-World Impact

Discussant: Pablo Baquero (HEC Paris)

17:00–17:15 — Break

Panel 4: Fireside Chat: Data Protection and the New Digital Compliance Landscape

17:15–18:00

• Cecilia Fernandez (Global Head of Data Protection, Atos)
• Laurie-Anne Ancenys (Partner, Head of Tech & Data Practice, A&O Shearman)

Moderators: Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon (VUB) and David Restrepo Amariles (HEC Paris)

19:00–21:00 — Dinner

Tuesday, 24 March 2026

08:30–08:45 — Welcome
David Restrepo Amariles (HEC Paris)
Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon (VUB)

Panel 5: Assessing Impact Assessment Methods and Templates: Is Convergence Achievable?

08:45–09:45

• Michael Spratt (University College Dublin)
  Clarity, Cost, and Compliance: Exploring Interpretative Fragmentation in EU Data Protection Impact Assessments – Evidence from COVID-19 Proximity Apps
• Tytti Rintamäki (Dublin City University)
  Impact Assessment Requirements in the GDPR vs the AI Act: Overlaps, Divergence, and Implications
• Pablo Baquero (HEC Paris)
  From GDPR to the AI Act – What’s next for Data Protection Officers

Discussant: Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon (VUB)

09:45–10:15 — AI Demo Session
François Amat Suzan
Complying with EU Digital Regulations: An Entrepreneur’s Perspective

Discussant: Geoffrey Aerts (VUB)

10:15–10:30 — Break

Panel 6: Consent, Fairness, and Power in EU Platform and Data Regulation: Do We Have the Means to Act?

10:30–11:30

• Sebastian Zimmeck (Wesleyan University)
  Can the GPC Standard Eliminate Consent Banners in the EU?
• Maitrayee Pathak (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
  Traceability for Privacy: A Foundational Pillar for an Effective and Competitive EU Digital Rulebook
• Inge Graef (Tilburg University)
  A Fairness Benchmark in EU Platform Regulation: Moving Beyond Fragmented Protections for Consumers, Businesses, and Workers

Discussant: Klaus Miller (HEC Paris)

11:30–11:45 — Break

Panel 7: Determinants of AI Competitiveness: Are We Focused upon the Real Constraints?

11:45–12:30

• Philip Meinel (TU Dresden)
  What Are AI Systems? Rethinking the Core Definition in the EU AI Act
• Bernd Fiten (CRANIUM)
  The Real Pain Points of AI Compliance

Discussant: Damien Charlotin (HEC Paris)

12:30–13:00 — Closing remarks

13:00–14:30 — Lunch at HEC Paris

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