The key point is this, I think: "“We need to be careful and ensure that the margin for maneuver given by the GDPR doesn’t lead to an attractiveness competition

The key point is this, I think: "“We need to be careful and ensure that the margin for maneuver given by the GDPR doesn’t lead to an attractiveness competition between EU countries, as is already the case for taxation,” Marie-Laure Denis, France’s new chief privacy regulator, warned the French parliament in January, in a clear reference to Ireland." The meta-problem here is (jurisdiction for international matters) is acute. It totally hamstrings corporate imcome tax as a category of taxation. In the modern economy, that's a big problem. The winner-loser disparity is such that taxing company profits is the ideal strategy. The alternative is taxing revenue/sales, which is far less efficient. A Google or FB could pay a pretty hefty corporate tax without affecting their output much. They literally make more profit than they know what to do with... it's piling up. A VAT alternative doesn't distinguish between them and (eg) auto manufacturers. It also doesn't tax export revenue... That's a done deal at this point. Politician planning on funding stuff through corporate income tax changes is a sign of naiveté and haplessness. ... international jurisdiction problems are just too unsolvable. A regulator shopping regime for privacy regulations basically takes regular on off the table, as a viable tool. It'll bleed into other areas as well.