Digital borders in the European Union

Abstract

The world is facing a new geoeconomic order in which digital media has changed the rules of the game. Borders are fuzzy and both companies and consumers try to strike a balance between free market access and the restrictions that protected economic interests establish. Based on these parameters, the European Union is trying to restructure the single market by applying global solutions that nevertheless collide with the protection measures demanded by economic operators, blocking the provision of services and the free movement of goods through so-called geoblocking. This practice consists of blocking access to services and/or the offer of products depending on the geographical origin of the user/client, either by redirecting users to local websites or simply by restricting access to their product brochure. The fact that consumer associations and users of digital platforms have considered this blockade as a real attack on the digital single market has led the European Union to seek legislative solutions. That is why the European Commission has promoted Regulation 2018/302, which aims to prevent unjustified geographical blocking and other forms of discrimination based on the nationality, place of residence or place of establishment of clients in the internal market. The justification of these protective measures as well as their location in the global geoeconomic space are studied in this work.