The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is designed to ensure fair and contestable digital markets. With one of the key sources of market power of big tech being data, it is not surprising that it is the subject matter of a number of DMA provisions. Article 5(2) prohibits gatekeepers from engaging in forms of accumulation and cross-use of personal data, unless they receive users’ consent, defined by reference to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Consent as defined by the GDPR suffers from a number of shortcomings, among other things, relating to whether consent can be truly freely given. The DMA tries to address some of the shortcomings by formulating a version of consent that seemingly goes beyond the GDPR. While a new version of consent may ensure greater effectiveness, it raises questions concerning the interaction and compatibility with the GDPR.
To shed light on this issue, the paper discusses the role and meaning of consent in the DMA vis-à-vis the GDPR and explores how to interpret consent under both the DMA and GDPR in a manner that is consistent with each other and that accounts for the characteristics of digital markets.
International environmental law rarely refers to the rule of law. However, in fostering inter-state cooperation, international environmental agreements oblige parties to prohibit, restrict or control various activities that are harmful to the environment. The application of these constraints at the national level requires the rule of law to be taken into account.
Public and political controversies over Investor–State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) have prompted reform processes in international investment law, at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, with different actors shaping the future of international investment governance. In its essence, the options for the ISDS reform reflect the diverging perspectives on the rule of law in international law. Ultimately, they present a choice about who should control power over States’ action in issues of public importance – the States who have created the system, or international investment tribunals who have shaped the legal development of the system. This paper considers the application of the rule of law as a normative meta-principle to international investment law and its dispute settlement, and it sheds light on different perspectives of this concept, as they shape the ongoing ISDS reform(s).