Since 1980, Morrison & Foerster has been tracking the development of technology-related regulations across Europe – and advising companies on the effects of such laws on their business. We have seen first-hand how some businesses have used the development of laws and regulations

to take advantage of new business opportunities. But more often, it has to be said, the growth in technology-related regulation has adversely affected business strategy. And, as much as the language barrier, the lack of harmonisation of laws across Europe has operated as a stumbling

block to a unified exploitation of that market.

The EU market has come a long way from the Treaty of Rome in 1957, through the single European market in 1992 – to a point now where it comprises 27 Member States and almost 500 million citizens. The EU Member States account for the world’s largest gross domestic product, and are an

important trading partner to every other major country. In theory, then, the EU is one market. In practice, of course, it’s not so simple. Each of those 27 countries has its own set of laws and regulations and, for the most part, in the technology sector the central EU lawmakers in Brussels

have not directly super-imposed laws across the entire market.