Commission agrees areas for action in digital single market strategy | Practical Law

Commission agrees areas for action in digital single market strategy | Practical Law

On 25 March 2015, the European Commission announced the three main areas on which it will focus in creating a digital single market.

Commission agrees areas for action in digital single market strategy

Practical Law UK Legal Update 8-606-0545 (Approx. 4 pages)

Commission agrees areas for action in digital single market strategy

by Practical Law Competition
Published on 25 Mar 2015 • European Union
On 25 March 2015, the European Commission announced the three main areas on which it will focus in creating a digital single market.
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On 25 March 2015, the European Commission held an orientation debate on its digital single market strategy, which will be published in May 2015 and is one of the Commission's priorities for 2015. The Commission has set out the three main areas for action in creating a connected digital single market: better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services; shaping the environment for digital networks and services to flourish; and creating a European Digital Economy and Society with long-term growth potential. Within these three areas, the Commission identifies several work-strands, including facilitation of cross-border e-commerce; a review of the current telecoms and media rules to make them fit for new challenges, in particular as regards consumer uses and new players in the field; and spectrum management reform.
The Commission's Work Programme 2015, the first of the Juncker Commission, published on 16 December 2014, It identifies initiatives in 10 priority areas that the Commission is committed to deliver during 2015. One of these is a connected digital single market (see Legal update, European Commission 2015 Work Programme: competition and regulatory initiatives).
On 25 March 2015, the Commission held an orientation debate on its digital single market strategy, which will be published in May 2015. As a result, the Commission has set out the three main areas for action:
  • Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services. Under this heading, the Commission stresses the importance of facilitating cross-border e-commerce, especially for SMEs, with harmonised consumer and contract rules and more efficient and affordable parcel delivery. Currently, only 15% of consumers shop online from another EU country and only 7% of SMEs in the EU sell cross-border. The Commission considers that if the same rules for e-commerce were applied in all EU member states 57% of companies would either start or increase their online sales to other EU countries (see Legal updates, Commission report on implementation of e-commerce action plan and Commission presents roadmap for completing the single market for parcel delivery).
    Tackling geo-blocking, where consumers cannot online services that are available in other EU countries, often without any justification, or are re-routed to a local store with different prices, is another challenge. Other areas for action are modernising copyright law and simplifying VAT arrangements.
  • Shaping the environment for digital networks and services to flourish. To encourage investment in infrastructure, the Commission will review the current telecoms and media rules to make them fit for new challenges, in particular as regards consumer uses (for example, the increasing number of voice calls made over the internet) and new players in the field. Spectrum reform will also be examined, to improve co-ordination among member states and halt delays in the roll-out of the latest 4G technology. The Commission considers that a European approach to spectrum management is needed to promote a genuine single market with pan-European services.
    The Commission will also look into the growing importance of online platforms (search engines, social media, app stores) for a thriving internet-enabled economy and how trust in online services can be increased through more transparency. It considers that the swift adoption of the Regulation on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data is key to boosting trust.
  • Creating a European Digital Economy and Society with long-term growth potential. The Commission wants to help all industrial sectors integrate new technologies and manage the transition to a smart industrial system ("Industry 4.0"). For this, it will promote the fast development of standards ensuring interoperability for new technologies. The Commission notes the challenges of ownership, data protection and standards of "big data". A proper framework for cloud computing is also essential, as shared networks and resources can boost the economy and allow or interoperable e-services.
Source: Commission press release IP/15/4653. See also Digital Single Market Factsheet and Digital Single Market webpage.