The ‘Strasbourg Effect’ on Data Protection in Light of the ‘Brussels Effect’: Logic, Mechanics and Prospects

Abstract

This article considers various factors that will shape the potential effect of the Council of Europe’s modernised Convention on data protection (Convention 108+) on non-European states’ regulatory policy. It does so by elucidating the logic and mechanics of this effect in light of the ‘Brussels Effect’ that is commonly attributed, in part, to EU data protection law. The central arguments advanced in the article are that the impact of Convention 108+ beyond Europe will rest primarily on the Council of Europe’s ideational power tempered by processes of acculturation, and secondarily on the degree to which the EU is willing to use the ‘Brussels Effect’ as a vehicle for promoting non-European states’ accession to the Convention.