Brussels, 15/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, 15 July, the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, who also holds the Communications and Media portfolio, informed MEPs from the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) of how important it was for the European Union to take swift action in the digital economy. He also warned against any blocking of new technologies and emphasised the importance of making progress in research and balanced consensus in the decisions that had to be taken at a European level, “because the others will continue: Internet knows no borders”. The Luxembourg Prime Minister was addressing MEPs who were concerned about digital issues and he put forward the presidency's priorities and replied to the questions put to him.
Digital “facilitates” and is present in every area of the economy. Xavier Bettel emphasised that the digital sector was not an exception but a facilitator that was present in every area of the economy, as well as being an excellent vector for employment and growth. Digital matters will therefore be an essential priority for the Luxembourg Presidency (as it is for the European Parliament and Commission), which will also put digital matters at the core of global internal market policy.
Overcoming barriers and getting the digital economy to take off. Bettel highlighted the digital market fracture in the 28 national markets and criticised the geo-blocking resulting from the situation, as well as the administrative charges arising from territorial applications of the law. He explained that e-commerce barriers had to be taken down. The Luxembourg Presidency is encouraging a “digital by default” approach that will help ensure that EU legislation does indeed provide solutions when it comes to using new technologies and to help the digital economy take off, whilst awaiting concrete proposals the Commission is due to present by the end of 2016. The Presidency will therefore promote initiatives in areas as diverse as fundamental freedoms (reuse and protection of personal data), telecommunications, cross-border e-commerce, online services, research and innovation (Big Data, Cloud computing), employment (inclusion), energy (efficiency), industrial policy, transport and education (digital skills).
Digital agenda serving business and consumers. Bettel will also be encouraging the harmonisation and mutual recognition of regulatory and non-regulatory instruments to guarantee optimum legal security, reduce costs on businesses and help consumers obtain optimum access to what is available. In the area of intellectual property, it will continue looking at the question of modernising copyright in the digital era. Bettel explained that SMEs and start-ups would be at the centre of all these policies so that they do not continue their growth outside the European Union.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP, Pilar del Castillo Vera (Spain) highlighted the urgent need to take action in the digital arena and raised the crucial question of personal data protection. She called on the Presidency to push forward on the regulation in question. She explained that although innovation should not be constricted, it should not be done to the disadvantage of data protection. She also believes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for digital platforms. Evzen Tosenovsky (Czech Republic), spoke on behalf of the ECR and emphasised the importance of cyber security, as well as the need for specialist services in member states (that all functioned in slightly different ways) to work together. Speaking on behalf of the ALDE group, Fredrick Federley (Sweden) warmly welcomed the position put forward by Xavier Bettel on geo-blocking and criticised the negative impact of digital market fragmentation on business and the economy in general. He welcomed the “firm position” put forward by the Prime Minister on this subject. Claude Turmes from Luxembourg spoke on behalf of the Greens/EFA and called for a genuine European data protection policy, which does not exist anywhere else in the world. On the question of copyright, he underlined the need for a new framework, which is crucial for the survival of creatives and encouraged the Luxembourg Presidency to put pressure on the Commission to go further in this area. Speaking on behalf of the GUE, Miloslav Ransdorf (Czech Republic) highlighted the fact that 70% of available information came from the US. He called on the Presidency to explain what their intentions were with regard to expanding the European presence on the information technology market. According to David Borrelli (Italy), speaking on behalf of the EFDD, they needed to overcome existing obstacles because there were a lot of innovative start-ups in Europe. Barbara Kappel (Austria) spoke on behalf of the ENF and underlined the importance of Big Data. She asked a question about the Presidency initiatives with regard to developing digital skills, digital public procurement and VAT for e-commerce.
Xavier Bettel said that they had to do more work on data protection but at the same time go forward, “we do not have the choice”. Copyright and geo-blocking will be crucial subjects for Luxembourg. On the latter, Bettel asked why geo-blocking persisted for replay videos, despite the fact that consumers had already paid their suppliers for the rights. In conclusion, he established a red line, which applied to all the questions, put to him: finding a balance in all the different areas of the digital arena. He also referred to the question of “trust”, which had not been raised during the different contributions made but which is, nonetheless, essential for the emergence of the digital single market. (Isabelle Lamberty)