EVOLUTION OF EU REGULATORY POLICY TOWARDS BUILDING THE SINGLE DIGITAL MARKET

Introduction. The Single Market of the European Union (EU) is one of the key components of European integration, ensuring the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among the member states. With the development of digital technologies, the need has arisen to create the Digital Single Market (DSM), which aims to establish harmonized rules, unified standards, and fair competition in the digital economy. The Digital Single Market Strategy, adopted in 2015, set the goals for the creation of the DSM. However, the question of its current state and the extent to which this goal has been achieved remains open. Objective. The objective of this article is to analyze the evolution of the EU's regulatory policy in the process of building the DSM. Materials and Methods. The research employs scientific literature and EU normative documents to identify existing trends in the EU's regulatory policy regarding the establishment of the DSM. Both general and specialized legal methods are applied, including the systemic-functional method for interpreting these trends in the context of understanding the EU as a complex supranational legal system, among others. Results. The implementation of the Digital Single Market Strategy has led to the gradual realization of its construction, but the vision of the DSM itself is evolving, necessitating a paradigm shift in the approach to goal-setting and the understanding of its functioning principles. The challenges and issues that have arisen in connection with the creation and ongoing operation of the DSM have highlighted the need for further discussion on the legal mechanisms for achieving this goal, as evidenced by the new comprehensive strategic program «Europe's Digital Decade» for 2020–2030. The article emphasizes the following trends in the evolution of the EU's regulatory policy in the process of building the DSM: 1) A shift away from market-liberal principles towards a more interventionist approach; 2) The evolution of the use of Regulations instead of Directives; 3) The adoption of DSM-specific rules in addition to the general Single Market rules; 4) The politicization of competition regulation; 5) The European Commission gaining economic powers. Prospects. Future research may focus on changing approaches to the legal regulation of the DSM in light of the introduction of new Regulations, and on the academic approaches to understanding the hierarchical coherence of the legal norms governing the DSM with those of the Single Market.