Abstract
It has been noted that many of the provisions of the EU Data Act are protectionist in character, seemingly designed to guard data as a national resource to be explored by EU actors first and foremost, and not to be exported, to the detriment of third-country companies. To international trade treaty partners, most notably the United States, it may seem as though the EU’s policy of digital sovereignty, in its current contours, risks violating WTO Law, which is premised on ideals of global free trade and comparative advantage. This essay analyses the most problematic provision of the Data Act in this regard, Article 32(1), with a focus on cloud services providers, assessing its compatibility with the National Treatment clause of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It further considers whether the EU may invoke general exceptions thereunder, namely the personal data protection exception. Lastly, this essay appraises the legislative changes proposed to Article 32, and related provisions of the Data Act in the recently introduced ‘Digital Omnibus Proposal’ of November 2025, and whether they meaningfully change the assessment of the Regulation’s conformity with the GATS.
Recommended Citation
de Carvalho, Pedro R. Borges
(2025)
"Friction Points Between the EU Data Act and WTO Law,"
Indian Journal of International Economic Law: Vol. 16:
No.
1, Article 1.
DOI: doi.org/10.55496/LPSL5260
Available at:
https://repository.nls.ac.in/ijiel/vol16/iss1/1
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
doi.org/10.55496/LPSL5260