Morning of the Fifth Freedom(to the Issue of Improving Legal Regime of the Freedom of Informationand Knowledge as Values and Drivers of Development)

Abstract

The article shows that the drivers for integration development of Europe in the 20th century were fourfundamental economic freedoms of the movement of goods, people, capital and services. In the EUmodern global information society, this list of the fundamental political and economic freedoms of previousstages of historical and integration development got the fifth freedom, i.e. the free movement ofknowledge. In this regard, the author suggests and motivates the necessity to develop a relevant informationlaw doctrinal and legislative novations to meet the challenge of global information society. In particular,the author suggests that academics, professionals and officials involved in creating the startingnormative legal base of practical activity of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) which launches January1 2015 in Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan should consider the problem of eliminating obstacles inspreading information and knowledge within the EEU. The author outlines the majour challenges due tothe development of the fifth freedom and makes up some solutions. In particular, an attempt has beenmade to specify the content of majour parameters of the current regulatory influence on the processesof exploring one of the main subjects of the fifth freedom i.e. libraries and the electronic format of itscatalogues and the ways to improve the public access to them. Thus, it is crucial to realize the importanceand subtlety of these problems and seek to solve them by making a relevant balance betweennecessary and sufficient free movement of information and knowledge and a relevant protection of otherrights and legal interests of persons, society and state. Appropriate to the time and society solution willbe required for the EEU and its member states to become competitive in the 21st century, i.e. the centuryof information and knowledge.