Course Description
Elective Course, students may choose two of the three elective courses
This specialized course is intended to provide students with a clear understanding of digital regulation in the European Union. The course builds upon the knowledge gained in the core course on EU internal market and International and European competition law. The course consists of three parts. In the first part, the broader horizon of EU digital regulation is discussed. In this context the various relevant legislative frameworks and initiatives are mapped, so as to show case the many synergies and interplays between them as well role in the broader context of EU business law. In the second and third parts, the course dives deeper into the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act specifically. Here, students will develop a deep understanding of the workings of these recently adopted legal frameworks , their objectives, procedures, and their role in shaping EU digital market.
One of the main aims of this course is to familiarize students with the ever-evolving legal landscape of digital regulation and to provide a deep understanding two of the flagship regulatory frameworks of the EU: The DMA and the DSA. Both laws are first-of-their-kind. This in turn will help students to anticipate and appraise digital regulations across jurisdictions globally.
Students will be expected to work in groups to conduct case studies into specific elements of these laws. By using mixed methods of assessment, students will develop both their knowledge of the framework and train their skills in analyzing and appraising laws.
Course Objectives
Objectives of the course
The objective of this course is to provide students with sufficient knowledge to be able to appreciate, from a legal point of view, the aims, principles, and to a certain extent likely effectiveness of digital regulation. This will help students to develop their expertise in a highly relevant and dynamic field of law. As part of its aim this course is designed to provide students with the knowledge require to apply some of the key EU legal frameworks for the digital economy as well as teach students to think about what the law should be and how it should evolve in view of the highly dynamic nature and global scope of digital markets.
Achievement levels
The following achievement levels apply with regard to the course:
Knowledge and comprehension: At the end of this course, students will have a broad overview of the relevant digital regulation in the Union and will have the ability to analyse and appraise digital regulation on the basis of the in-depth studies conducted into the DMA and DSA. They will also have the knowledge and skills to understand the substance and enforcement of the DMA and DSA.
Application: At the end of this course, students will be able to explain the principles and aims underlying digital regulation and give insights into the development of effective and proportional digital regulation.
Analysis: At the end of this course, students will be able to critically appraise digital regulation. The introduction of various types of digital regulation helps students to create a broad overview of relevant legislation, while the in-depth studies of the DMA and DSA provides them with tools to conduct their own studies into various types of digital regulation.
Programme Final Qualifications
The following learning outcomes apply with regard to the course:
P.F.Q. = 1, 2, 3, 5, 8.
Mode of Instruction
Seminars based on the Socratic method, i.e., question and answer model, with active participation of the students. Teaching will commence on the ruling assumption that students have done the mandatory assignments and readings for each session.
Assessment Method(s):
The assessment in this could be based on a collection of assignments and multiple-choice examinations. The final grade will be based on the average of all the examination elements. For a final passing grade students are required to have passed all of the individual examination elements.
Where a student achieves a non-passing grade for one of such elements, the specific element must be redone. Students are entitled to a maximum of one re-take per element in the event of a non-passing grade.
Provisional reading list
As the course deals with a developing field, we will predominantly rely on recent academic articles, cases, judgements, and other sources. To ensure that the course discusses the state-of-the-art in a fast-moving field, definitive mandatory and recommended reading will be updated on a weekly basis.
Example reading list
Regulations
Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation)
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828 (AI Act)
REGULATION (EU) 2023/2854 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 December 2023 on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 and Directive (EU) 2020/1828 (Data Act)
Regulation (EU) 2022/868 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on European data governance and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 (Data Governance Act)
Regulation (Eu) 2024/1183 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 as regards establishing the European Digital Identity Framework (EU
Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and the Procedural Implementing Regulation (Digital Markets Act)
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act)
Cases
DMA.100019, Apple - Online Intermediation Services - app stores - AppStore - Art. 5(4), Decision of 23 April 2025
DMA.100185, Apple - Operating systems - iOS - Art. 6(3), Decision of 23 April 2025.
DMA.100055, Meta - Article 5(2), Decision of 23 April 2025.
DMA.100138, ByteDance, 5 September 2023
DMA.100013-47, Apple Designation, 5 September 2023 (combined cases)
Case T‑1077/23, ByteDance v. European Commission, ECLI:EU:T:2024:478 [2024]
TBA.
Literature
Books
Bradford, A., (2023). Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology, Oxford University Press (2023).
Husovec M., Principles of the Digital Services Act, Oxford University Press (2024), available as e-book via Leiden University Library
Podszun, R., & Bloomsbury, publisher. (2024). Digital Markets Act : article-by-article commentary (R. Podszun, Ed.; 1st edition.). Beck/Hart/Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509957101, available as e-book via Leiden University Library.
Assorted articles
<Beglinger J., Overview of the EU digital policies and regulative ‘grand design, Online Chart (2025), https://eudigitaldesign.eur-charts.eu
Bostoen, F. (2023). Understanding the Digital Markets Act. The Antitrust Bulletin, 68(2), 263-306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003603X231162998 (Original work published 2023)
De Streel et al., Effective and proportionate implementation of the DMA, CERRE Report (2023)
Amelia Fletcher, Jacques Crémer, Paul Heidhues, Gene Kimmelman, Giorgio Monti, Rupprecht Podszun, Monika Schnitzer, Fiona Scott Morton, Alexandre de Streel, The Effective Use of Economics in the EU Digital Markets Act, Journal of Competition Law & Economics, Volume 20, Issue 1-2, March-June 2024, Pages 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1093/joclec/nhad018
van den Boom, J. (2022). What does the Digital Markets Act harmonize? – exploring interactions between the DMA and national competition laws. European Competition Journal, 19(1), 57–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441056.2022.2156728
Van den Boom, J., & Podszun, R. (2025). Procedures in the DMA: non-compliance navigation – Exploring the European Commission’s space for discretion and informality in procedure and decision-making in the Digital Markets Act. European Competition Journal, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441056.2025.2464959
CAUFFMAN C, GOANTA C. A New Order: The Digital Services Act and Consumer Protection. European Journal of Risk Regulation. 2021;12(4):758-774. doi:10.1017/err.2021.8
Husovec, M. (2024). The Digital Services Act’s red line: what the Commission can and cannot do about disinformation. Journal of Media Law, 16(1), 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/17577632.2024.2362483
Wilman, Folkert, The Digital Services Act (DSA) - An Overview (December 16, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4304586 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4304586
**Disclaimer: **
Currently these pages are being updated to reflect the courses for 2025 - 2026. Until these pages are fixed as per 1 September 2025 no rights can be claimed from the information which is currently contained within. Should there be any future extenuating circumstances which may impinge our teaching and assessment, these could necessitate modification of the course descriptions after 1 September. This will only happen in the event of strict necessity and the interests of the students will be taken into account. Should there be a need for any change during the course, this will be informed to all students on a timely basis. Modifications after 1 September 2025 may only be done with the approval and consent of the Faculty Board and Programme Director.