BusinessEurope's views on digital trade

Key messages

Digital trade has become a fundamental factor in the development of global economy. It concerns the economy as a whole, fostering employment, entrepreneurship, innovation and growth.
However, barriers to digital trade do exist and there is a growing tendency to digital protectionism that needs to be addressed. Typical restrictions include tariff measures, investment limitations, limitations on cross-border data flows and forced data localisation.
It is important that the existing international framework – based on WTO rules and other international agreements – is reinforced and the potential for an agreement on digital trade, preferably multilateral, is promoted. A stand-alone chapter on digital trade should also be included in all EU trade agreements.

This position paper looks at the existing legal framework on digital trade, outlines barriers to digital trade that should be tackled and discusses how a potential agreement on digital trade could be structured.
For BusinessEurope, an agreement on digital trade should fulfil a number of principles, namely: recognise free cross-border flow of data as a horizontal principle and aim to create a global level playing field.