Brussels, 25/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Somewhat overshadowed by the United States' phone-tapping, the summit of European leaders in Brussels on Friday 25 October agreed on the importance of completing a single digital market by 2015 to breathe new life into the European economy, and also on the need for citizens to gain digital skills.
The leaders adopted a conclusions document in which they pledge to pull out all the stops to eliminate barriers to a single digital market and end the current fragmentation, for Europe to become a leader in the global digital drive. On Thursday evening, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said that, in order to be serious on the single market, it has to be digital, as at the moment it is over-fragmented, out-of-date and companies find it difficult to find IT experts. He said that a genuine single digital market would give a real boost to growth and job creation. The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said the debate had shown that everyone agreed that there was an urgent need and he hoped that the debates on Friday would breathe new life into the process. EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes tweeted on the consensus at EU28 level: “This was a good day for Europe. I am very pleased with what the national leaders have decided. The most senior politicians came together to recognise that digital change is happening and that Europe needs to adapt”.
The European summit made three calls: 1) to connect up Europe by breaking down visible digital barriers like roaming fees and the online market rules; 2) to encourage investment in high-speed connections to allow the use of 4G technology and cloud computing, by filling the various gaps and making these services attractive and user-friendly for consumers; and 3) to encourage the development of digital skills. By 2015, there will be 900,000 jobs to be filled in the digital industry and more of the structural funds will be spent on e-training for the people of Europe.
The scandal of phone-tapping in the summer, along with reports of the United States' NSA listening in to Angela Merkel's mobile phone conversations, made the question of data protection more urgent than ever. The European summit called for rapid adoption of the data protection directive so it can come into force in 2015 but, at the request of the United Kingdom, did not give a specific deadline. Herman Van Rompuy said he was sure that data protection was a vital fundamental right (protection of privacy) and also for consumers if they want to do business online.
Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, said that there had been intense discussion on one aspect of growth, namely the digital agenda, and how the digital agenda, innovation, research and services can boost the European Union's economic clout. She said they had again noted, as Barroso pointed out, that Europe greatly needs to catch up. She said legislation needs to be updated to give rise to a single market in which Europeans can operate together and pursue the adoption of guidelines on electronic signatures and electronic identification, which are currently being discussed. British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the summit had reached the right conclusions. Under pressure from Cameron, the summit did not set a deadline for introduction of the data protection directive (the Commission wants it introduced during the current European Parliament). The draft directive is on the table, but Cameron said it would add a lot of red tape and extra costs for business. France sees that what it suggested is included in the conclusions document, said the French president, François Hollande, because what is important is growth, jobs and well-being. He said the idea is to unite markets and become leaders on cloud computing and big data. He said the new regulatory framework had to be set for the end of 2014 or the start of 2015 and horizons needed to be widened to allow innovation to flourish. He said this had been done and it would now allow Europe to be dynamic. The French president said, on taxation of the digital economy, that the rules had to be harmonised and a group of experts would look into how to prevent companies wriggling out of tax through aggressive tax planning. The workgroup will make its first assessment in December. The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said that Spain had four priorities when it comes to the single digital market - high quality services at the lowest cost, protecting consumer rights (respect for privacy), respect for intellectual property rights and the need for balanced tax rules for the digital economy. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, whose will hold the Presidency of the Council of Ministers summit for the six months starting on 1 January 2014, said he had high hopes for the digital economy to re-start economic growth in Greece through synergies to be developed between high tech and traditional industries. The Greek Presidency will pay great attention to the digital economy over its six months of office, he added. (IL avec AN/LC/CG/MB/EL/transl.fl)