On 1 October 2020, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) published a Study by Niombo Lomba and Tatjana Evas on "Digital Services Act - European added value assesment". This Study analyses the potential added value that could be achieved by enhancing the current EU regulatory framework on digital services. For that purpose, the Study examines the e-Commerce Directive and more broadly the commercial and civil law rules applicable to commercial entities operating online.

European Added Value Assessment

"Based on the comparative legal analysis, the Study identifies 22 main gaps and risks that currently affect provision of online services in the EU and proposes policy solutions to address these shortcomings. In order to assess the European added value (EAV) quantitatively and qualitatively, the gaps and policy solutions identified are clustered into four policy packages:

• consumer protection measures,
• action on content management and curation,
• measures to facilitate competition in online platform ecosystems, and
• actions to enhance enforcement and legal coherence.

The results of the macroeconomic-modelling, for two of the four policy packages, suggests that taking common EU action to enhance consumer protection and common e-commerce rules, as well as to create a framework for content management and curation that guarantees business competitiveness and protection of rights and freedoms, would potentially add at least €76 billion to EU gross domestic product between 2020 and 2030.

This quantitative estimate provides a lower boundary for direct economic impacts, and does not quantify or monetise the EAV of qualitative criteria, such as consumer protection, coherence of the legal system or fundamental rights. Therefore, the overall European added value of improving the functioning of the single market and adapting commercial and civil law rules for commercial entities operating online, as indicated by qualitative analysis, would be considerably higher."

Source:

European Parliament, "Digital services act - European added value assesment", Study by Niombo Lomba and Tatjana Evas, PE 654.180, October 2020