Brussels, 30/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - In a letter sent to European Union heads of state and government on 27 September, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, drew attention to the importance of the next European Council on the European Digital Economy. Digital services, telecommunications, innovation and research will be at the centre of the debates, as well as the urgent need to provide the European Union with the necessary tools for tackling fierce global competition. Barroso explained that, “Digital services and telecommunications are crucial drivers of growth and productivity across all sectors of our economies. However, we are not yet getting the most out of the potential for our single market in telecommunications and online and in these industries the EU is losing ground to our international competitors”. The Commissioner is calling on member states and the European Parliament to swiftly adopt the different proposals formulated by the Commission in an attempt to reverse this situation. In this connection, the Commission has published a report in which heads of state and government agree to develop their input for the debate at the European Council the subject on 24-25 October.
Single digital market. The report submitted to member states highlights the recent Commission initiatives to remove the main barriers to the single telecommunications market and promote investment. Following the appeal by the European Council in spring 2013, the European Commission put forward a proposal on 11 September last for an ambitious package to create a framework to help develop a single digital market. Several other legislative proposals directly related to the digital economy are awaiting a decision by co-legislators (these include online payment services, data protection rules, rules for reducing high-speed broadband infrastructure costs). Overall, all these proposals share the same objective: rectifying specific single digital market shortcomings. This will involve promoting e-commerce and online services, stimulating investment, maintaining an open internet and fighting against fragmentation in the telecommunications market.
Research and innovation. In order to boost economic growth, competitiveness and job creation, José Manuel Barroso explained that they needed constant investment in research and innovation. He also pointed out that corporate spending on R&D in the EU was significantly less than that in the EU's main competitor countries. It is lagging behind in essential high-tech and fast-growing markets, including those linked to the technologies and new European start-ups are growing more slowly than in our main competitors and fewer of them are joining the ranks of the world's largest firms. This situation clearly illustrates that despite satisfactory progress being achieved towards establishing a strategic framework for a Union of Innovation, reforms need to be speeded up to consolidate the European Research Area by 2014. The Commission believes that a common approach in research and innovation is crucial for the European Union and has subsequently adopted a global strategic framework known as Horizon 2020, which is helping to modernise and simplify financing instruments.
José Manuel Barroso concluded that, “I am convinced that our efforts to make progress on innovation and the single market for electronic communications and online services, if sufficiently ambitious and coordinated, will pay off. I look forward to our discussion on the number of very concrete steps to take our policies further”. (IL/trans.fl)