Digital Single Market Strategy: European Commission agrees areas for action
Brussels, 25 March 2015
Digital technology is part of everyday life. From studying to watching films, buying or selling online to connecting with friends or your doctor – the internet is a goldmine of digital opportunities. But every day in the EU people and companies run into many barriers – from geo-blocking or cross-border parcel delivery inefficiencies to unconnected e-services. Digital services too often remain confined to national borders. The Juncker Commission has made it a priority to remove these obstacles and create a Digital Single Market: making the EU's single market freedoms "go digital", and boosting growth and jobs on our continent. The College of Commissioners today had a first discussion on the Digital Single Market Strategy due in May – and set out the main areas the Commission will focus its work on to trigger real changes for consumers and businesses alike.
Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said: “Let us do away with all those fences and walls that block us online. People must be able to freely go across borders online just as they do offline. Innovative businesses must be helped to grow across the EU, not remain locked into their home market. 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”.
Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger said: “Europe cannot be at the forefront of the digital revolution with a patchwork of 28 different rules for telecommunications services, copyright, IT security and data protection. We need a European market, which allows new business models to flourish, start-ups to grow and the industry to take advantage of the internet of things. And people have to invest too – in their IT-skills, be it in their job or their leisure time”.
Today's orientation debate has set out three main areas on which Commission action will focus during this mandate:
1. Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services
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 (see Factsheet for more figures).
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. Such discrimination cannot exist in a Single Market.
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.
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 EUR 80 billion.
Digital Single Market Strategy: European Commission agrees areas for action
Brussels, 25 March 2015
Digital technology is part of everyday life. From studying to watching films, buying or selling online to connecting with friends or your doctor – the internet is a goldmine of digital opportunities. But every day in the EU people and companies run into many barriers – from geo-blocking or cross-border parcel delivery inefficiencies to unconnected e-services. Digital services too often remain confined to national borders. The Juncker Commission has made it a priority to remove these obstacles and create a Digital Single Market: making the EU's single market freedoms "go digital", and boosting growth and jobs on our continent. The College of Commissioners today had a first discussion on the Digital Single Market Strategy due in May – and set out the main areas the Commission will focus its work on to trigger real changes for consumers and businesses alike.
Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said: “Let us do away with all those fences and walls that block us online. People must be able to freely go across borders online just as they do offline. Innovative businesses must be helped to grow across the EU, not remain locked into their home market. 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”.
Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger said: “Europe cannot be at the forefront of the digital revolution with a patchwork of 28 different rules for telecommunications services, copyright, IT security and data protection. We need a European market, which allows new business models to flourish, start-ups to grow and the industry to take advantage of the internet of things. And people have to invest too – in their IT-skills, be it in their job or their leisure time”.
Today's orientation debate has set out three main areas on which Commission action will focus during this mandate:
1. Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services
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 (see Factsheet for more figures).
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. Such discrimination cannot exist in a Single Market.
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.
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 EUR 80 billion.
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