April 2021 - Dialogues on European Digital Transition

City councils facing the digital transition: Barcelona proposes online delivery tax

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality April 21, 2021June 9, 2021Amazon, Digital sovereignty, Fiscal policy, Local business, Spain

The complex debate on taxation of large Internet platforms affects all levels, from the large institutions involved in global governance – such as the G20 and IMF – to city councils in cities that have around two million people, such as Barcelona. For a while now the Catalan city council has been working to implement a tax on home delivery of online purchases. The measure is after an essential objective: to defend the traditional commercial structure and small businesses from the rise of e-commerce, a market dominated by multinational platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress.

A digital levy in the EU: Our response to the European Commission consultation

European Association for Digital Transition Economic future April 15, 2021June 9, 2021Competition, European Commission, Fiscal policy

Last February, the European Commission opened a public consultation process as part of its work to create a digital levy in the EU. This is not only in response to the economic and business changes that have been accelerated by the pandemic, but also to bring order to the different initiatives from the Member States. Appropriate taxation for the digital economy, with its ability to break down political boundaries, is a matter of great global interest and a subject that both the G20 and the OECD are also working on.

Health and data management: lessons learned from the pandemic

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom April 15, 2021June 9, 2021coronavirus, health

Assessment of health services based on outcomes rather than on activities done in hospitals or primary care centres is a demand that remains pending. If we were to ask about this in different countries, we would find fairly uniform results: what matters are the results, not the activities.

Digitalization must transform health management now: We need a clear strategy

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom April 12, 2021June 9, 2021coronavirus, health

The pandemic that has been raging for more than a year is dramatic proof of the weaknesses in health systems, even in the most developed countries. In Spain, whose situation during the first wave was particularly dramatic, recognized experts had warned even before coronavirus that the National Health System was overwhelmed, especially in the area of primary care and public health.

Five hundred million affected by the Facebook data breach: What now?

European Association for Digital Transition Rights and freedom April 8, 2021June 9, 2021Data Protection, Facebook

You see the expression ‘data breach’ almost every day in the media. It refers to situations in which the data we have given to a service provider ends up being available to a third party who, in principle, should not have had access to it.

Europe, facing regulation of the data economy: The dangers of a late, incomplete response

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality April 5, 2021June 9, 2021Data Economy, Digital rights, Digital Services Act, Regulation

The regulatory offensive being done by the European Union with the so-called ‘gatekeepers’ of the digital economy – the large Internet platforms – just might be a before and after in the unbalanced market position these enjoy. However, both the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act ignore a key element in regulating the use and exchange of personal data: an economic calculation of the consumer-digital relationship.