Brussels, 18/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Although progress has been made towards achieving the digital agenda objectives, it has to be said that the member states are too content with the results achieved and are not intensively continuing their efforts towards the creation of a proper single digital market more quickly. This observation was made by the European Commission, which on 18 June published its latest scoreboard on the digital agenda, the purpose of which is to create an economic climate and regulatory framework which are conducive to competition and investments in the European digital technology markets. A proper economic structural reform needs to take place in Europe, more people must be trained in the sector of new information and communication technologies (ICT), online purchasing must become more cross-border and online public services be rolled out further, says the Commission. “This attachment to 20th-century policy mindsets and business models is hurting Europe's economy. It's a terrible shame. We are shooting ourselves in the foot by under-investing. Europe will be flattened by its global competitors if we continue to be complacent”, warned the commissioner for the digital agenda. She calls on the public authorities and businesses to keep up the pace, amongst other things to avoid frustrating consumers, who are keen on digital technologies and would like to have a broader choice.
Of the 101 actions laid down in the digital agenda (78 actions coming under the responsibility of the Commission and the remaining 23 the responsibility of the member states), 34 of them have been completed, 52 are underway and 15 have been or may be delayed.
The main conclusions to be drawn from the scoreboard are as follows:
(1) Broadband: broadband internet covers practically all of the European territory. At the time of writing, 95% of Europeans have access to a fixed broadband connection. The countries which have made the greatest efforts are not always those with an incumbent operator, the report notes. The Commission particularly congratulates Romania and Lithuania, which have invested a great deal in achieving the broadband objectives. Furthermore, the minimum target of 50% has been achieved for the first time as regards socially disadvantaged people using the internet, which is highly positive and shows that the member states' efforts to reduce the digital divide are paying off. Fifteen million Europeans went online for the first time in 2011 and 68% of Europeans are regularly active online. However, one in every four Europeans has never used the internet.
(2) Mobile internet: mobile internet take-up grew by 62% and there are now 217 million mobile broadband subscribers, which is another positive point highlighted by the scoreboard. The Commission supports this development, “because this is where there is the most potential for development”, said Constantin Van Oranje, a member of the cabinet of Neelie Kroes. The Commission would like the member states to do more under their own initiative, particularly as regards the radio-electric spectrum.
3) eGovernment: as regards the provision and use of online administrative services, the most progress has been made (with the exception of the Czech Republic) in states experiencing financial problems, which shows just how much eGovernment can contribute to the success of structural reforms, the Commission states. Greece, Portugal and Ireland are the member states which have made the most progress. Elsewhere, stagnation appears to dominate.
(4) Roaming: thanks to the Commission's efforts, roaming prices fell in 2011-2012. New companies have abandoned their abusive tariff practices, by proposing collective offers or roaming tariffs which reflect national rates. On average, however, consumers are still paying three and a half times more for their roaming calls than for their national calls, which runs counter to the objectives of the single digital market. Prices are still too high and change too slow, and the Commission is planning a new legislative initiative to get rates falling faster, Van Oranje stressed.
(5) ICT skills: half of Europe's active population do not have the ICT skills they need to be able to change jobs or find one. Although 43% of the population have skills which are average or higher as regards the internet, almost half of the active population do not feel that their IT internet skills are sufficient for today's employment market and nearly a quarter have no ICT skills at all. Although the employment rate in Europe, particularly among young people, remains high, it is still hard to find jobs in the ICT sector, which will number 700,000 by 2015. Little is changing in this field, which is a real problem, the Commission laments.
(6) Online shopping: although 58% of European internet users shop online, just one in 10 have bought from a website based in another member state. With regard to this, language barriers and red tape (such as refusal to deliver from one member state to another and copyright complications) are the biggest problems. Guarantees and access to an online right of recourse to build up consumer confidence, which is sadly lacking when it comes to online shopping, are needed.
(7) Use of eCommerce by SMEs: small and medium-sized enterprises make only very limited use of eCommerce. They have not got into the habit of buying or selling online, which limits their export and revenue potential. “We have not made the progress we hoped for, we are stagnating”, said Van Oranje.
(8) Public R&D expenditure on ICT: although public research has been protected from austerity measures, spending is well below the 6% annual growth needed to double public investment by 2020. Furthermore, investment by private companies is on the wane. The R&D intensity in the European ICT sector is currently less than half that of the American ICT sector, the Commission warns. The institution has decided to double its investments in ICT, but this has still to be debated at the Council and Parliament, Van Oranje stated.
ETNO and ECTA Reactions
With the publication of the scoreboard, the incumbent operators, meeting under the aegis of the association ETNO, and the new operators, brought together within ECTA, reiterated their (polar opposite) positions on tariffs for fibre-optic networks. The telecoms operators need to be able to raise the tariffs applied to their competitors in exchange for the use of their copper networks in order to boost investment in fibre optics, ETNO stresses. ECTA disagrees completely, arguing that the new operators are under a stranglehold by the excessive prices charged by the incumbent operators to use their copper networks, which is preventing them from investing in new-generation fibre networks. Readers may recall that the Commission is due in the next few weeks to unveil its proposals for a recommendation on wholesale prices on fixed (new-generation) networks. (IL/transl.fl)