Bertin Martens
Bertin Martens is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel. He specialises in the digital economy.
He covers economic and regulatory issues in digital data markets and online platforms, the impact of digital technology on institutions in society and, more broadly, the long-term evolution of knowledge accumulation and transmission systems in human societies. He also specialises in online services trade, e-commerce, geo-blocking and copyright in digital media.
He speaks English, French and Dutch.
He is a Non-resident Research Fellow at the Tilburg Law & Economics Centre (TILEC), at Tilburg University. Previously, Bertin worked as a Senior Economist and team leader for the Digital Economy research programme at the Joint Research Centre (Seville) of the European Commission. Prior to that, he was deputy Chief Economist for Trade in the European Commission and carried out various other assignments in the European Commission, working extensively on international economic issues. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Disclosure of interests
Featured work
AI, data and Europe’s quest to simplify
How can the EU adapt its rulebook to meet tomorrow's technology environment?
The European Union needs more than the digital omnibus to make digital services competitive
European Commission plans to streamline digital rules introduce new inconsistences and fall far short of transformative reform
The challenge of AI encroachment into online search and advertising
AI-driven answers erode search engine dominance and highlight the need for new strategies to promote competition in digital markets
The European Union is still caught in an AI copyright bind
Tweaks to EU copyright requirements in the AI Act Code of Practice will maintain the AI growth momentum, for now – but will also create new challenges
All work
Podcast
07 January 2026
AI, data and Europe’s quest to simplify
How can the EU adapt its rulebook to meet tomorrow's technology environment?
Analysis
08 December 2025
The European Union needs more than the digital omnibus to make digital services competitive
European Commission plans to streamline digital rules introduce new inconsistences and fall far short of transformative reform
Event
15 January 2026
Fixing data privacy consent: the GDPR seven years after
Assessing market failures, regulatory gaps, and paths to reform
Working paper
02 December 2025
The challenge of AI encroachment into online search and advertising
AI-driven answers erode search engine dominance and highlight the need for new strategies to promote competition in digital markets
Event
15 October 2025
How to accelerate investment in sovereign AI computing infrastructure, models and services in the EU?
Is EU AI regulation an obstacle?
Analysis
10 September 2025
The European Union is still caught in an AI copyright bind
Tweaks to EU copyright requirements in the AI Act Code of Practice will maintain the AI growth momentum, for now – but will also create new challenges
Event
10 September 2025
European Data Union Strategy: how to write a new rulebook for Europe's digital values
How can the European Data Union Strategy enhance coherence and economic efficiency across the EU’s existing data regulations?
Podcast
28 April 2025
EU Tech Rules: What to make of the first DMA fines?
How Brussels can regulate big tech in a time of trade wars
First Glance
11 April 2025
EU targeting of digital services in tariff retaliation would present challenges
The European Union lacks an instrument to unpick cross-border transactions on US digital platforms
First Glance
25 March 2025
A planned code of practice would reinforce the EU’s artificial intelligence copyright problem
The European Union is continuing to unnecessarily restrict access to copyright-protected content for AI model training