What if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not a doomed initiative - and what if it will actually make inroads into modern trade problems? The Asia-Pacific region is now the world's centre of economic gravity holding an increasing share of world production and promising a rapid turn into the...

Cross-border data flows are an integral mechanism of today's economy, impacting a country's competitiveness and growth. All economic sectors rely on secure, cost-efficient and real-time access to data. A requirement that all data-related business processes must take place within a country does...

The proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an opportunity to prevent and remedy anti-competitive conduct by large digital platforms. If the Act is designed in an adequate manner to target specific problems, it can improve the contestability of platform services markets and markets that rely...

China's rise and the U.S. response to the perceived threat it represents to its predominance jeopardize the world order and affect international institutions. The paralysis of the WTO and the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO are the most visible examples, but not the only ones. This article presents...

Even low import tariff rates have a significant compounding effect on the final retail price of medicines, which in turn impacts on affordability. While much of the "access to affordable medicines" debate is about intellectual property rights (IPRs) and business practices of pharmaceutical...

Forced data localisation measures are on the rise around the world, fragmenting the Internet and increasing costs for businesses and consumers. Until the year 2000, only 15 measures were imposed globally. By 2007, the number of measures doubled and it more than doubled again until today. The...

Online platforms create "more perfect" markets. Online platforms are a market-driven cure to the imperfections of the EU's incomplete Single Market. Platforms provide well-functioning technical infrastructures that allow users to easily deal with country-specific legislation in the EU, e.g. VAT...

Standard-essential patents (SEPs) have been critical to the ICT revolution. SEPs have allowed for the fast rates of innovation diffusion that the world has witnessed in the past 25 years. Yet the SEP system is under pressure. It suffers from a smoldering crisis of confidence as costly legal...

The European Commission is reviewing the use of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), a patent term extension motivated by the increasing length of market approvals for pharmaceuticals. The initiative is driven by EU Health Ministers thinking that changes in patent exclusivity rights...

The EU's Mobility Package 1 legislative proposal was once intended to improve the working conditions of truck and small-van drivers in the EU. Initially, the European Commission also aimed at securing a smooth and non-discriminatory functioning of the Single Market. Some provisions of the...