Latest / IMI Podcasts / Europe’s Rule Addiction is its Downfall

Transcript

Europe’s Rule Addiction is its Downfall · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Europe's addiction to rules is no secret.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: They love to regulate, even things that don't need regulation, like mandating USB-C chargers and limiting vacuum cleaner wattage.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And when they regulate something worth regulating, like privacy, they make a mockery of it.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Remember their flagship general data protection regulation, referred to as GDPR, meant to protect consumers online?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: It is proven to protect nothing.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: For example, it should protect the identities of the beneficial owners of companies, but it doesn't.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: The EU argued in this case that transparency is more important than privacy.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing GDPR accomplished was ensuring an annoying cookie banner pops up on every website you visit.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: It has caused us to become drones programmed to click accept all to get to a website.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And since almost everyone accepts all the cookies, the only thing the EU accomplished with GDPR is making the Internet more inconvenient.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: The EU wants to dictate how technology should work, markets behave, and companies operate.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And they're proud of it.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: This despite the fact that their zeal for regulation is now threatening their economic and technological future.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: The US and China are both light years ahead of the EU in tech.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I can't think of a single device, app, or service that I use on a daily basis that came from the EU.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be hard-pressed to think of anything vital to the world's technological infrastructure that came from the EU.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: What does that tell you?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel de Broeker, director of the Center for Cybersecurity Belgium, also known as CCB, admitted that fully storing data in Europe was currently not possible because U.S.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: tech companies dominate the infrastructure.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: He went on to say, quote, we've lost the whole cloud.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: We have lost the Internet, let's be honest, end quote.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: The EU lost the Internet.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: I find this hilarious because it serves them right.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's logical that if you stifle innovation and handicap businesses with over-regulation, both will suffer.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone, except the EU regulators, saw this coming.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: What does that tell you about those running the show in the EU?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: The only question now is what they are going to do about it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I read an article in the Wall Street Journal late last year that led me to believe they had realized the error of their ways.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: It reported that the EU was proposing to roll back some of its digital laws.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because they felt that reducing regulation would boost innovation and attract investment, which would make them less dependent on U.S.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: tech.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is not policy innovation.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's an admission of failure.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: But will the EU actually change its ways?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: It seems not.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Teresa Rivera, the European Commission's second-in-command, recently told the Financial Times that the EU's competitiveness depends on not rolling back rules.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think the opposite has been proven already.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Europe's governing elite have failed Europe, and no wonder.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: They're disconnected from reality.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Most haven't worked or done business.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: They are professional politicians and bureaucrats regulating things they don't understand.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: They focus on how they believe things should be, rather than on how things actually are.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: That isn't a strategy, that's wishful thinking.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Despite the EU being the world's third largest economy, it has little say in the world, and provides nothing the rest of the world couldn't live without.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: While it will be interesting to watch this all unfold, does it really matter?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Does it make a difference if the EU rolls back regulations or not?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sadly, not.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: The reality is that the EU can't catch up to the US or China, not in tech, not in defense, and not economically.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: A friend of mine once told me that Europe has become a nice place to visit.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I fear she was right.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Jimmy Sexton on IMIDaily.com.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe for free to the IMI newsletter for breaking news and updates from the investment migration industry.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And upgrade your membership to IMI Pro to get access to our exclusive professional community, citizenship catalog, investment migration company Rolodex, private briefings, and more members only content.