Brussels, 28/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - “Our economy is fighting for its life”, said Commissioner for the Digital Economy Günther Oettinger in a debate with the MEPs of the committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE) at the European Parliament, on Thursday 28 May (our translation throughout). Oettinger presented the MEPs with the strategy for a digital single market devised by the European Commission and announced on 6 May.
He argued that there is an absolutely urgent need to act, otherwise, the European economy as a whole may never be able to recover. The commissioner criticised the reluctance at European level to pick up the pace over the digital economy, an area in which the United States and Asia are making enormous strides. “The United States use their economic superiority in order to have digital superiority. (…). If we do not have the experts to develop applications, we are risking our lives. We need to create new services”, Günther Oettinger insisted, concluding: “we need to be a lot quicker than we are at the moment”.
In his introductory speech, Oettinger stressed the delays in setting in place the infrastructure needed for the deployment of digital services. “We still don't know what we need in terms of data transport, but it's going to explode”, he warned, welcoming the opportunities the Juncker investment plan will free up. The commissioner also raised the question of confidence in and the security of networks, as “tomorrow's espionage will be carried out in data systems”, he warned, calling for the adoption of the directive on data security. He also stressed the need to adopt the telecom' directive, which is taking such a long time to emerge. Theoretically, the process should be concluded under the Latvian Presidency, with a trialogue agreement with the Parliament and the European Council on the two remaining outstanding points: roaming and net neutrality. Along with the management of the radio spectrum, these two elements are the points on which the member states are most divided. “I call upon you to intervene with the member states”, urged Oettinger. As regards roaming, “we need a single European tariff area” and, as regards the radio spectrum, “we need to take another look the traditional way of managing frequencies”, the Commission added.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP, Spain's Pilar del Castillo Vera likened the development of the digital economy to a high-speed train which does not stop. “We need to be on that train”, said del Castillo Vera, stressing that the digital single market is the driving force behind the single market. She called on the European Commission to show ambition, because this institution has the leadership role. “We need to get right to it, otherwise we will never get there”, she concluded. On behalf of the S&D Group, Romania's Dan Nica said that the development of 5G gives Europe the opportunity to take the lead in the race. However, he is concerned that there will not be enough funding. He added that cyber-security was a key element for a successful digital strategy. “It is quite possibly the key to our success”, he said, going on to stress the need to create a certification system, which is vital for security and confidence in the networks. Poland's Marek Jozef Gróbarczyk, of the ECR Group, spoke out against problems with the functioning of infrastructure due to different systems in place at national level. As regards roaming, he stressed the fact that the major telecommunications company are partly owned by the member states. “There should not be too much government interference”, he recommended. On behalf of the ALDE Group, Estonian MEP Kaja Kallas said that it should not just be a matter of weighing up the risks and opportunities brought about by digital, but also looking at the opportunities it offers industry. As regards copyright reform, “we need a single market for cultural content”. For the GUE, Germany's Cornelia Ernst superimposed ethical issues on the technical issues. She argued that a balance must be found between the single market and citizens' rights.
Whilst many of the questions from the MEPs stressed the need to get to the task in hand more quickly, Commissioner Oettinger explicitly criticised the slowness of procedures at the Council. Between one Council session and the next, governments change and it is no longer the same ministers working on the dossiers, Oettinger stressed, describing discussions going round and round in circles and making no progress, particularly on the revision of the AMS directive (audiovisual media services). “This ritual is stupidity (…). I would like a week of meetings behind closed doors in a monastery somewhere with ministers and MEPs; like the council which meets to elect the next pope, that should be possible for us as well in a democracy (…)! The digital world, Netflix, Amazon, that will continue, it is a permanent revolution. We can have a certain amount of authority when we look ahead”, said Commissioner Oettinger. (Isabelle Lamberty)