Capital Movements, Digital Trade and Intellectual Property

Abstract

Financial services, data privacy and the protection of innovation are at three examples of rapidly evolving areas in global economic cooperation. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze key features of the European Union (EU) - United Kingdom (UK) Trade & Cooperation Agreement (TCA) relating to capital movements, digital trade and intellectual property rights (IPRs). It first identifies the relevant legal provisions of the TCA, mapping their structure, to highlight the minimum standard of protection they afford. It then examines the operationalisation of selected applicable provisions, taking into account the social, political and economic realities they are situated in -including limits and opportunities. The analysis shows that regulatory autonomy, coupled with greater deference to rules under the WTO system and its underlying principles of non-discrimination and national treatment are consistently infusing the text of the TCA, suggesting that a rules-based approach to international cooperation continues to be relevant, in spite of growing pressures towards geopolitical and economic fragmentation.