There is no general principle for the use of copyright protected material comparable to the fair use/fair dealing principles. Directive 2001/29/EC defines an optional, but exhaustive set of limitations from the author´s exclusive rights under the control of the “three-step test” in line with the Berne Convention that establishes three cumulative conditions to the limitations and exceptions of a copyright holder’s rights. The Directive has been transposed by Member States with significant freedom.
In general, the Danish copyright regulation corresponds to the scope of exceptions and limitations set out in the Copyright Directive. Accordingly, the three-step test originating in the Berne Convention applies to all the provided exceptions and limitations. Chapter 2 of the Danish Consolidate Act on Copyright contains a comprehensive list of copyright exceptions.

Pursuant to Article 11 of the Consolidate Patents Act (2019), the Patent and Trademark Office may invite the applicant to appoint a patent agent residing in the European Economic Area (EEA) to represent the applicant in all matters relating to the application. Moreover, it is reported that it is highly recommended for foreign applicants to perform patent prosecution in Denmark through a local agent, a registered Danish patent attorney.

Under the Regulation 2019/452, Member States may maintain their existing investments screening mechanisms (21 Member States currently do), adopt new ones or remain without such national mechanisms. The Commission keeps an up-to-date list of screening laws in the EU. Member States must notify the Commission who may issue an opinion when an investment threatens the security or public order of more than one Member State, or when an investment could undermine a strategic project or programme of interest to the whole EU, such as Horizon 2020 or Galileo. The final decision remains with the Member State.
The Investment Screening Act covers foreign direct investments in Denmark. Foreign investors must apply for authorisation from the Danish Business Authority if they intend to directly or indirectly acquire at least 10% of the shareholdings or voting rights in a company or entity domiciled in Denmark, and the Danish company or entity belongs to particularly sensitive sectors in relation to national security or public order. These sectors include IT security functions, publicly accessible electronic communications networks and services, central data storage, satellite, radio and television transmission, central public digital identification, common public master data, including geodata, personal registration and central business registration, as well as critical technology, such as artificial intelligence for autonomous vessels and machine learning for biometric identification.
Pursuant to the Investment Screening Act, the Danish Business Authority may carry out further investigation if an investment has been made without authorisation in violation of the Act. The Authority can then either order the violation to be brought to an end, i.e. authorisation must be applied for within a specified period, or the investment must be stopped by a given date. Notification is voluntary for investments in other sectors that will achieve at least 25% of the shareholding or voting rights or equivalent controls by other means, and where the investment may pose a threat to national security or public order.

The Danish Public Procurement Act (part 1, section 3) states that a contracting authority shall treat economic operators or services from member states of the European Union or the European Economic Area equally to Danish economic operators and services. Economic operators and services from other countries shall also be treated equally to Danish operators, to the extent that this follows from international obligations incumbent on Denmark or the European Union.

Art. 85 of the Utilities Directive (2014/25/EU) contains provisions allowing contracting public entities to reject foreign goods not covered by any EU international commitments from its tender procedures. In these cases, a tender submitted for the award of a supply contract may be rejected where the proportion of the products originating in third countries exceeds 50% of the total value of the products constituting the tender (Art. 85.2). Additionally, in cases of equivalent offers, the provisions provide for a preference for European tenders and tenders covered by EU's international obligations. In practice, this possibility has rarely been used.
Although the Danish Public Procurement Act has not directly included Art. 85 of the Utilities Directive (2014/25/EU), it states that contracting entities shall comply with the provisions of the Utilities Directive.

Art. 27 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 requires a local representative for data controllers or processors not established in the EU.

Art. 18 (2) of Directive (EU) 2016/1148 establishes a local presence requirement, through the designation of a representative, for digital services providers not established in the Union, but offering digital services within the Union. The types of digital services for the purposes of Art. 18 (2), referred to in Annex III, are: online marketplace, online search engine and cloud computing services.

According to the Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017 amending Directive 2006/112/EC and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value added tax obligations for supplies of services and distance sales of goods, the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 174, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

There are complaints in 2021 concerning EU product requirements regulated under the so-called “New Legislative Framework” (NLF), which replaces the Multi-Stakeholder Platform on ICT Standardisation that provides industry guidance on standardisation to the Commission. Legislation adopted under the NLF privileges European standards (EN), imposing additional costs and uncertainty on producers relying on alternative standards. The technical committees, which draft harmonized ENs, generally exclude non-EU nationals from participating in their standard-drafting process, or at least deny them a vote.

Self-certification is allowed under equal terms for foreign and domestic companies under article 14 and Annex II of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2014/30/EU.
EU legislation requires that the manufacturer of a CE marked product issues an EU Declaration of Conformity for the product and draws up technical documentation. A Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is a document signed by a manufacturer or authorised representative confirming that the product placed in the market complies with applicable EU requirements, and is required for all CE Marked products sold in the EU with few exceptions. The contents of the Declaration of Conformity shall follow the model declarations set out in Annex III to Decision 768/2008/EC or in annexes to applicable legislation. (CE-marked products signify that products sold in the EEA have been assessed to meet high safety, health, and environmental protection requirements.)
The EU has concluded a number of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with third countries that allow national conformity assessment bodies to certify product conformity for the respective markets. The EU has signed 7 MRAs, 6 of which cover electromagnetic compatibility and interference as and/or radio and telecommunications equipment

Regulation 2021/821 establishes that the export of dual use items used for both civilian and military applications is subject to control and these goods may not leave the EU customs territory without an export authorisation. The Annex I identifies a range of dual-use items that face either authorization requirements or outright bans for exportation outside of the EU, which include electronics, computers, telecommunications and information security. The Regulation 2021/821 replaces the previous regulation on the matter (Regulation(EC) No. 428/2009), as subsequently amended and implemented by Regulation (EU) No. 1232/2011 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1922 respectively.

There are only two specific cases where the EU public procurement market can be closed to foreign bidders from third countries: the Defence Directive (not relevant for digital trade) and the Utilities Directive.
Art. 85 of the Utilities Directive (2014/25/EU) contains provisions allowing contracting public entities to reject from its tender procedures foreign goods not covered by any EU international commitments. In those cases, a tender submitted for the award of a supply contract may be rejected where the proportion of the products originating in third countries exceeds 50% of the total value of the products constituting the tender (Art. 85.2). Additionally, in cases of equivalent offers, the provisions provide for a preference for European tenders and tenders covered by EU's international obligations. In practice, this possibility has rarely been used.

Art. 17 of Directive 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive) mandates that providers of content-sharing services seek authorisation from rights holders and implement technical solutions to remove and prevent unauthorised uploads by their users (so-called upload filters), under penalty of losing their liability safe harbour. Further arrangements are envisaged for complaints and dispute resolution mechanisms. Such upload filters are reported to be a significant cost for online platforms.
Graduated exemptions are expected to be put in place for new providers, active in the EU for less than three years and with a turnover under EUR 10 million, and with fewer than five million users. The provision is subject to a challenge in the Court of Justice by Poland (C-401/19).

Through Council Regulation (EU) 2022/350 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/351, the EU has sanctioned a number of Russian TV channels, as a result of "Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine". The sanctions entail the suspension of broadcast licenses and distribution agreements (e.g. over cable) A wide range of operators are supposed not to enable or facilitate the broadcast of any content by these channels including through "IP-TV, internet service providers, internet video-sharing platforms or application". As a result, these channels have been delisted from online search results and their social media accounts are no longer accessible in the EU. (Some of these accounts had already been voluntarily suspended by major digital platforms). Their websites are nevertheless still accessible.

Since May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that organizations conducting "regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale" or whose activities include the processing of sensitive personal data on a large scale, must appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). Previously, only European institutions and bodies were required to appoint at least one person as a DPO, with some Member States imposing such requirements also on private companies. In addition, under the GDPR, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) are mandatory for data processing activities likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.