Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - With a week to go until the European Parliament plenary vote on the connected continent package, Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Economy, has appealed for a leap forward to be made in the construction of the digital single market. In a speech made at Dusseldorf during a conference organised by the Handelsblatt newspaper, the Commissioner stressed the need for a robust recovery in growth based on concrete investment in the networks and genuine digital transformation. The commissioner argued that the economic recovery would inevitably be dependent on the digital economy and would therefore need barriers that prevent new technology from developing beyond borders to be removed. She insisted that there should be “no fragmented platforms. No diverging rules that don't talk to each other. No countries that go their own way. No networks that only support their own insistence, their own services, their own clouds, but cannot relate to each other”. She said that the biggest barrier was the mental barrier and called for them to “overcome” it.
On 3 April, the European Parliament will vote during its plenary session on the report by Pilar del Castillo Vera (EPP, Spain) on the connected continent package. It should be pointed out that during the adoption of the report by the industry committee on 18 March, differences of opinion appeared between the EPP and the ALDE and between the S&D and the Greens/EFA on the question of internet neutrality (see EUROPE 11041). (IL)