Jul 52016

Post-Brexit EU May Be Stranded By Its Own Data Rules

Cameron F. Kerry
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*This article first appeared in Forbes on July 1, 2016.

So now the European Union’s “sceptered isle” has voted to sever its bonds with its continental partners – with the wish that (as described in a Shakespeare passage memorized by every English schoolchild for generations) it can be set off by the sea “against the envy of less happier lands.”  The outcome demonstrates the depth of dissatisfaction with a world that has become interconnected.

In the meantime, the EU is facing its own tensions with global interconnectedness that threaten to turn it into a virtual island as it heads further down the path of cutting off the flow of data to “third countries” outside the EU.

 

Cameron F. Kerry

ckerry@sidley.com

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