Borders and digital space : the quest to realise a European Union Digital Single Market

Border studies, as a discipline, has focused on the movement of people and the multi-layered barriers to the movement of people. Within our globalised world, commodities, knowledge, technology, and money cross borders with great ease. This thesis contributes to the knowledge of borders, by proposing a new agenda in understanding digital borders using the case study of the European Union's Digital Single Market. One of the EU's greatest achievements concerning internal borders was the creation of the Schengen Agreement (1985) and the free movement of Europe's citizens. This agreement is one of the pillars of membership of the EU and a key element in European integration. The EU internal borders have been transformed from the days of walls, check points, and guards, to negotiations, development, and economic policies of the EU. This thesis explores what the new walls, check points, guards, and political nuances are when managing and developing a seamless border in the context of the EU; and, thus, argues that border studies need to expand to include a political economy dimension. To understand seamless borders in the context of the EU internal border, therefore, one needs to understand not only the mobility of people but also the mobility of data and the barriers in place whilst also understanding the move towards the confrontation between national polices and the complex path to implementing a functioning Directive that the DSM can deliver upon. Case studies within this thesis include one on the EU Commission, The Franco-German Aixs, and the function and role of the Trio-Presidency.