Brussels, 25/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission's approach with regard to online platforms is taking shape. A draft report, leaked in the specialist press, gives an outline definition of and sets out the problems and challenges posed by these new services. An analysis of the economic and social role of the platforms is scheduled for the end of May-start of June.
The Commission's draft report uses the work of McKinsey to assert that the emergence of the new digital platforms will create 2.5% additional jobs by 2025, with countries such as Spain enjoying growth double that. It says that Europe is lagging behind, with 96% of major (in terms of market value) online platforms located outside the EU. Similarly, the draft identifies problems on fair competition, consumer protection, data protection, illegal content and breaches of copyright, and cyber-security. Against this background, the Commission sets itself the goal of not slowing innovation, ensuring transparency, clarifying the principle of liability and ensuring that the EU derives full benefit from its creative and commercial potential.
Definitions. Throughout the 125 pages, the Commission tries to define what is meant by an “online platform”, informed by the 1,036 responses received in the public consultation on platforms which ran from 24 September to 6 January. The report defines platforms as online services which bring together users who derive benefit from the interaction. It uses the methodology of Evans to identify eight categories of platform: (1) online advertising platforms; (2) the virtual market and e-commerce; (3) internet search engines; (4) social network platforms (including Twitter); (5) mobile operating systems and app shops; (6) payment systems, such as Visa, MasterCard, Paypal and Sofort; (7) the collaborative economy; (8) creative content platforms.
“Platforms are very different, which means different problems. For example, search engines present more of a problem of transparency whereas taxi services are more about consumer protection”, Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip told the European Parliament's internal market and consumer affairs committee on 21 April. “The economy based on sharing will continue to grow and we must come to terms with this and adapt. We have no intention of killing innovation or regulating platforms. … The Commission will not adopt a cross-cutting approach to regulate platforms: that would be impossible. It will work from the problems”, he added.
A problem-centred approach. With regard to the collaborative economy, for example, the Commission identifies, inter alia, the car-sharing service BlaBlaCar, the housing service Airbnb, and the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. It speaks of problems of liability, of a level playing field between players, of users' liability and the portability of their opinions. It makes a distinction, however, between the business models of BlaBlaCar and Uber with regard to monitoring price setting: it says that BlaBlaCar, unlike Uber, is not necessarily looking to make a profit.
The Commission defines creative content platforms as platforms which allow amateur and/or professional creators to provide the general public with access to their work. It identifies four categories, depending on the type of product on offer: audio, video, reading or image. In Europe, for sports events, as many as 82% of users download or access digital content without paying, for audiovisual content (such as films, series, video clips and television programmes) the figure is 80%, for music 77%, for games 76% and for digital books 64%, the report says, noting that video sharing platforms are governed by the e-commerce directive and are thus exempted (subject to certain conditions) from liability for the content they put out, retain or receive. Addressing MEPs on the internal market and consumer protection committee, Commissioner Ansip returned to his view of YouTube, pointing out that this Google subsidiary, which has one billion users and derives its income from advertising, pays only around €600 million annually to the music industry, whereas the Swedish music streaming service Spotify, which has 30 million paying subscribers, contributes around €1.6 billion. He also drew attention to the content proposed by YouTube: “Removing the illegal content on platforms works. However, it will take time to remove the legal content used illegally. And as soon as it has been removed, the content will be replaced by more, much to the annoyance of musicians. It's not just a matter of fair remuneration: it's also about creating a fair balance with clearer rules”. With regard to copyright, the draft report highlights the need to harmonise the “detect and act” procedure and to clarify the concepts of actual knowledge, hosting, mere conduit and caching. On fair competition, the report recommends a more technological approach to competition policy, encouraging platforms to offer access in all member states, creating alternative dispute resolution systems for small companies, continuous review of sectoral rules (media, conduit, etc.) in order to provide a level playing field, and implementing data portability.
The communication will be presented at the end of May or start of June. It will be followed later in the year by a communication from DG Internal Market and Industry on the collaborative economy. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)