| Abstract [eng] |
This thesis analyses the evolution of digital market legislation in the European Union from the early development of regulatory instruments to the establishing of a solid legislative framework in the recent years. The rapid growth of the technologies has influenced the development of online platforms, demanding to adapt legal architecture to technological progress and the expanding role of Internet in modern economic and social systems. The first part of the thesis presents the evolutionary process of European Union digital market regulation, specifically the stages of development of certain legal acts. Particularly, it focuses on the early stages of the European Union's digital initiatives, which established a foundation for further lawmaking development by adopting the E-commerce Directive, the Data Privacy Directive, and other tools to safeguard the functioning of digital cross-border market. The legislative acts adopted at this stage laid a foundation for cross-border digital trade. The chapter presents a transition towards the Digital Single Market strategy and the adoption of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. The second part of the thesis examines the institutional and procedural evolution of enforcement mechanisms, tracing the development from decentralised enforcement model to hybrid and centralised models applied. The chapter discusses modern mechanisms applied for more efficient law enforcement, cross-border cooperation tools, and how European Union interacts with international cooperation networks. The third part of the thesis presents European Union’s digital legislation in a global context, comparing the evolutionary development of European, American, and Chinese approaches and demonstrating their differences. The chapter focuses on the extraterritorial impact of European Union’s rules, specifically the mechanisms through which digital legislation influences global practice. Overall, the thesis concludes that the European Union has transformed its digital regulatory framework into a coherent system that aims to protect fundamental rights around cross-border digital market functioning. The thesis traces the development of European Union digital markets legislation from the early stages to the point where it shaped global regulatory trends, making the European Union a global standard-setter. |
