On November 7, the Japan Association of New Economy (JANE) held the 11th Session of International Study Group.

In this session, Motohiko Sato, Manager of JANE’s Global Affairs Department, provided an overview of EU digital regulation and explained key elements of major regulatory frameworks such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

At the outset, the “Brussels Effect”—whereby EU regulations influence rulemaking beyond Europe—was introduced, underscoring the need for Japanese companies to prepare not only for direct compliance obligations in the EU, but also for indirect impacts that may arise through global supply chains.

The presentation then reviewed the evolution of EU digital policy from the 2015 Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy to the present, explaining how early soft-law initiatives—such as guidance and recommendations on illegal content—progressively developed into hard-law frameworks like the DSA and DMA. It also highlighted the recent shift in EU policymaking from the design phase to enforcement phase.

Under the DSA, a wide range of obligations—such as measures against illegal content, protection of minors, and transparency requirements—are imposed on intermediary services, with very large online platforms subject to additional obligations including risk assessments and independent audits. The DMA, aimed at preventing market dominance by gatekeepers, introduces ex-ante rules such as prohibitions on self-preferencing and requirements to ensure interoperability. The session also covered recent enforcement developments.

Finally, upcoming EU policies—including strengthened DSA/DMA enforcement, the Digital Fairness Act, customs reform, the European Data Union Strategy, and the Digital Omnibus (simplification package)—were highlighted, emphasizing the importance of continued monitoring of EU regulatory trends.
During the Q&A session, participants raised a range of questions, including how DSA enforcement contributes to online safety, leading to a highly engaging discussion.

A recording of the session and the presentation materials are available on the JANE Members’ Site. (Japanese Only.) All employees of member companies may access the site by creating an account via the “Members’ Site” link on the JANE homepage.
As membership is verified based on corporate domains, please register using the corporate email address provided by your corporation when creating an account. There is no limit on the number of accounts per member company, so each individual may create an account freely.

JANE will continue to host International Study Group Sessions, focusing on timely and significant developments in global laws and regulatory frameworks.

-Photo from the 11th Session of International Study Group