The 2015 EU Digital Single Market Strategy

This article analyses the 2015 EU Digital Single Market Strategy from the perspective of strategic compliance. Although the purpose of the Strategy is to stimulate investment and increase certainty, this article argues that this will be difficult to achieve. This is a result of three factors. The first is the EU's lack of ambition to refrain from regulation in the areas where extra regulation might be harmful (such as ISP liability and e-commerce). The second is the lack of ambition to reform the areas where such reform is needed (e.g. copyright exceptions). The third is the convergence between the content and carrier layers. The ultimate result will be more regulation, less transparency and more difficult compliance