It cautioned against what it termed the "Brussels effect", where regulated entities end up complying with EU laws because of the size and attractiveness of that market.
The FMF , in collaboration with the European Policy Information Centre and the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity , launched a report this week - "The Brussels effect in South African policymaking: an imperialism of expedience?" in which it argued that South African policymakers are embracing or mirroring EU-style regulations in areas such as data protection, online platform governance and artificial intelligence.
The foundation looked at EU instruments such as the General Data Protection Regulation, Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act. It found that, to varying degrees, they have been emulated in South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act Popia, Competition Commission recommendations and government discussion documents around the regulation of AI.