Brussels, 25/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the College of Commissioners meeting on 25 March, the European Commission Vice President for the Digital Single Market Strategy, Andrus Ansip, said that the European Commission would be focusing action on several different areas to deliver real change to enterprise and consumers who want optimum benefits from digital technologies.
The thirteen Commissioners involved in the digital strategy held a debate for the first time, under the leadership of Ansip, on the digital single market strategy the Commission will be presenting on 6 May (see EUROPE 11268). Ansip stated, “I am under no illusions. This will be an uphill struggle all the way, but we need an ambitious start. Europe should benefit fully from the digital age: better services, more participation and new jobs”.
The orientation debate helped to define the priority development areas for the digital strategy where the Commission will be focusing during its mandate. Ansip explained that they had decided to work on three main areas:
1. Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services. Four areas of action are targeted: 1) Facilitating cross-border e-commerce, especially for SMEs, with harmonised consumer and contract rules and with more efficient and affordable parcel delivery. Today only 15% of consumers shop online from another EU country - which is not surprising, if the delivery charge ends up higher than the actual price of the product; 2) Tackling geo-blocking: too many Europeans cannot use online services that are available in other EU countries, often without any justification; or they are re-routed to a local store with different prices; 3) Modernising copyright law to ensure the right balance between the interests of creators and those of users or consumers. It will improve people's access to culture - and therefore support cultural diversity - while opening new opportunities for artists and content creators and ensuring a better enforcement of rights. Ansip said that at the moment everyone was a loser and there were blockages to accessing work although users were prepared to pay. He said that they wanted to change things so that everyone was a winner: the user would have access to content by paying for it and authors would obtain revenue, which would allow them to continue to create; 4) Simplifying VAT arrangements is important to boost the cross-border activities of businesses, especially SMEs. The cost and complexity of having to deal with foreign tax rules are a major problem for SMEs. The VAT-related costs due to different requirements are estimated at €80 billion. Ansip added that the re-examination of VAT policy that Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner Pierre Moscovici will soon be introducing would provide answers to a lot of questions.
2. Shaping the environment for digital networks and services to flourish. Again, four specific areas of action are envisaged: 1) To encourage investment in infrastructure so that all digital services, applications and content dependent on high-speed internet and secure networks develop. The Commission will therefore review the current telecoms and media rules to make them fit for new challenges, in particular relating to consumer uses (for example the increasing number of voice calls made over the internet) and new players in the field; 2). Improving spectrum coordination among member states. Europe has witnessed significant delays in the roll-out of the latest 4G technology, as a suitable spectrum was not available. A European approach to its management is needed to promote a genuine single market with pan-European services; 3) This will include looking at how to strengthen trust in online services, essential for developing the digital economy, through more transparency and to facilitate the swift removal of illegal content; 4) The swift adoption of the Data Protection Regulation is key to boosting trust among consumers who have doubts about providing too many personal data details.
3. Creating a European Digital Economy and Society with long-term growth potential. Five areas of action are planned to this end: 1) help all industrial sectors integrate new technologies and manage the transition to a smart industrial system; 2) ensuring interoperability for new technologies are essential for Europe's competitiveness, they must be developed faster; 3) making the most of out of the data economy. Questions such as ownership, data protection and standards need to be addressed to unlock its potential; 4) The same goes for cloud computing. While shared networks and resources can boost our economy, they also need the right framework to flourish and be used by more people, companies, organisations and public services; 5) Europeans should also be able to fully benefit from interoperable e-services, from e-government to e-health, and develop their digital skills to seize the opportunities of the internet and boost their chances of getting a job.
Julia Reda rapporteur on copyright delighted with Commission analysis
The EP rapporteur on the new framework for copyright, Julia Reda (Greens/EFA, Germany), is delighted with the Commission's clear position in favour of tackling geo-blocking. She is also pleased to note that the Commission is planning on harmonising copyright exceptions, particularly for libraries, text and data mining and for people with disabilities. The MEP asserted that, “it is encouraging that the Commission shares the same analysis on copyright rules as reflected in my draft report. The statements from Commissioner Ansip should be a wake-up call to those who, at the European Parliament, want to fundamentally alter this approach by siding with the lobbies and industry, particularly the collective management companies”. Nonetheless, she did regret the lack of precision on the way the Commission intended to put a stop to geo-blocking. It should be pointed out Reda's draft report provoked some heated reactions from several MEPs (see EUROPE 11270). (Isabelle Lamberty)