Digital Single Market
The term digital single market refers to the policy objective of eliminating national or other jurisdictional barriers to online transactions, building on the common market concept designed to remove trade barriers in other commercial fields.
On 6 May 2015, the European Commission, led at the time by Jean-Claude Juncker, established the Digital Single Market Strategy, intended to remove virtual borders, boost digital connectivity, and make it easier for consumers to access cross-border online content across the European Union. The Digital Single Market, which is one of the Commission's 10 political priorities, aims to fit the EU's single market for the digital age, moving from 28 national digital markets to a single one, and then opening up digital services to all citizens and strengthen business competitiveness in the digital economy. In other words, the Digital Single Market is a market characterized by ensuring the free movement of people, services and capital and allowing individuals and businesses to seamlessly access and engage in online activities irrespective of their nationality or place of residence. Fair competition conditions and a high level of protection of personal and consumer data are applied.
Building a data economy, boosting competitiveness through interoperability and standardisation, and creating an inclusive e-society can realise the growth potential of the digital economy. According to the commission, investment, the acknowledgement of international dimension, and effective governance are required for the advancing of the Digital Single Market. A fully operational Digital Single Market could bring a contribution of 415 billion euros per year to the economy and it would also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. The Digital Single Market Strategy includes a series of targeted actions based on 3 pillars. From these 3 pillars will come 16 key actions that constitute the Digital Single Market Strategy.
The Three Pillars
The commission has decided to put in place a strategy for the period 2014 - 2019 called "The Digital Single Market Strategy". It aims to give citizens and businesses better access to the digital world. This strategy is based on 3 pillars, each with 3 actions, and with the objective of achieving 16 measures.The first pillar: access
It will attempt to implement better access for consumers to the digital world across Europe. The first objective of this first pillar will involve a number of legislative proposals. They will regulate cross-border markets in order to reduce the differences between Member States and also to allow for a "harmonisation of the different VAT regimes". Indeed, there is a difference in contract law and this hinders the smooth flow of trade in the single market. To address this, the commission has proposed two directives to ensure that "consumers who seek to purchase goods or services in another EU country, whether online or by visiting a shop in person, are not discriminated against in terms of price, conditions of sale or payment arrangements, unless objectively justified on grounds such as VAT or certain legal provisions in the public interest".A second objective will concern parcel delivery services throughout Europe. However, an exception to this proposal has been made in order not to impose a disproportionate burden on small businesses. They will not be obliged "to deliver throughout the European Union". The third objective will be to address problems of consumer discrimination. It is foreseen that national authorities will have the possibility to check whether sites use geographical blocking. It will therefore be ensured that no consumers can be discriminated against on any basis.
The second pillar: environment
It will attempt to provide a favourable environment for the development of fair competition for the digital network and all developing environments. At the same time, the protection of personal data will be strengthened. The first objective of this pillar is to transform the market so that it becomes simpler and more sustainable. The environment of the European common market must be conducive to fair competition between traditional telecoms companies and new internet players.The second objective will involve making access to networks and services more reliable but also affordable. Citizens and businesses must have confidence in these networks, especially in terms of preserving their fundamental right to privacy. To achieve this, it was necessary to reform a series of European regulations, especially in the field of telecommunications, but also in terms of cybersecurity and everything that concerns audiovisual media services. The third objective is to enable the market to adapt to changes in its environment. As the market is based on a sharing economy, it must adapt its functioning to this. The construction of this pillar is already well underway, particularly with regard to cybersecurity and telecommunications. However, the most important measure concerning the revision of the directive on privacy and electronic communications is barely underway.
The third and final pillar: maximising the growth potential of the European digital economy
The first objective of this pillar is to foster the digital switchover of industry and services in all economic sectors in Europe. It will also be necessary to stimulate investment through strategic partnerships and networks. The second objective will be access to data and capital. This needs to be in place in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. The third objective will be around data protection, free movement of data and the creation of a European cloud. In order for all these objectives to be achieved, it is essential that the first two pillars are in place.Role of the European Parliament
The Parliament has played a key role in the restarting of the internal market, and is an ardent advocate and agenda setter for the DSM. Before the launch of the Digital Single Market Strategy in May 2015, the Parliament had already been adopting resolutions on the Digital Single Market. For example, on 20 April 2012, took a resolution on a competitive digital single market and e-government. The Parliament also adopted a resolution in July 2013 to complete the Digital Single Market.In January 2016, to respond to the DSM Strategy proposal, the European Parliament adopted a resolution named "Towards a Digital Single Market Act". The goals of this proposal were notably to ask the European Commission to suppress the geo-blocking practices, to enhance the access to goods and services for the European consumers and also to establish an equivalent consumer protection.
Over the years, the EP have been building the DSM via thorough legislative enterprise. The legislation covers a wide range of digital concerns, from the elimination of roaming charges and the prohibition of unjustified geo-blocking operations to the adoption of a directive on actions to "reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks" or a directive on "copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market".
According to the EP, the legislative achievements of the institution in the DSM area are supplying 177 billion euro every year to economic growth in the European Union. The areas where the principal incomes are from are the European electronic communications and services area with 86.1 billion euro, data flows and artificial intelligence area with 51.6 billion euro and the single digital gateway area with 20 billion euro.
Objectives and funding
Objectives
The aim of the Digital Single Market is to modernize regulations and make them more homogeneous on subjects such as consumer protection, copyright, and online sales. The European Commission specifies and says that five objectives are noted:- Boost e-commerce in the EU by tackling geo-blocking and making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable and efficient.
- Modernize European copyright rules to adapt them to the digital age.
- Update EU audiovisual regulations and work with platforms to create a fairer environment for all, promote European films, protect children, and better fight against hate speech.
- Strengthen Europe's response capacities to cyber-attacks by strengthening ENISA, the EU agency responsible for cybersecurity, and create an effective European cyber deterrence while providing a criminal response in this area, to better protect businesses, public institutions, and European citizens.
- Help businesses of all sizes, researchers, citizens, and public authorities to make the most of new technologies by ensuring that everyone has the necessary digital skills and by funding European research activities in the fields of health and high-performance computing.
Funding
The digital single market demands high-quality infrastructure. The EU is already mobilizing investments of around €50 billion from the public and private sectors for the digital transformation of industry. It has also released €21.4 billion from the European Structural and Investment Funds which will be available for the digital sector once national and regional strategies are put in place for digital growth, which will strengthen the link between policies and funding targets at all levels.
However, more investment needs to be made in digital technology, especially in areas where digital needs are far greater than the capacities of any of the Member States acting in isolation. Efficiency can be gained by combining and complementing EU funding programs with other sources of public and private funding, notably through the European Fund for Strategic Investments. In April 2017, investments in the digital sector associated with the EFSI represented around 17.8 billion EUR, including public and private funding,. However, current funding instruments have limitations when applied to large mission-oriented initiatives. Therefore, the commission will explore ways to put in place a framework to support the development of a pan-European high-performance computing and data infrastructure. Combining different EU funding sources with national and private funding would be the best way to stimulate investment.