The Enforcement of EU Digital Regulation: Administrative and Constitutional Challenges

ongoing

DigiForce is a yearly 61h programme on the administrative enforcement of EU Digital Regulation. The core component of the Programme is a 46h summer school at NOVA School of Law in Lisbon (up to 60 students), supplemented by three in-person and online seminar series. The Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) are key for safeguarding fundamental rights, the integrity of democratic processes, and an innovative digital economy. However, their multilevel enforcement systems are intricate, and their legal framework vague and full of gaps. The opacity and legal uncertainty risk undermining effective enforcement and, with it, basic EU values and competitiveness. DigiForce takes action to counter this risk. It advances legal clarity at a crucial moment, as the AIA and DSA take effect. DigiForce identifies a lack of research and teaching on core administrative law issues of the AIA and DSA, including enforcement procedures, cooperation mechanisms, and fundamental rights implications. Assembling an interdisciplinary team of experts in EU administrative law, digital regulation, and Law & Technology, DigiForce will address this gap and produce impactful research and teaching. The research outputs include six international, peer-reviewed publications and a special issue, three annual conferences, and three debates that will zoom into the national perspective. The teaching programme is the first devoted to the administrative and constitutional challenges in the enforcement of EU Digital Regulation, and will educate law students and early-career practitioners from Portugal, the EU and beyond. The research and teaching components, combined with public outreach activities, like podcasts and social media, will transfer the knowledge that DigiForce will generate to legal practitioners in the public and private sector, who will contribute to better enforcement of EU Digital Laws for years to come.