The EU Commission is due to release its Digital Single Market Strategy and supporting Evidence on 6 May 2015, but copies of the draft Strategy were leaked last week, which have provided an unexpected
The EU Commission is due to release its Digital Single Market Strategy and supporting Evidence on 6 May 2015, but copies of the draft Strategy were leaked last week, which have provided an unexpected insight into the direction that the Single Market will take.
The Strategy seeks to ensure that the Digital Single Market is truly “single”, so that the Single Market is realistically reflected in the digital world. The Strategy claims that bringing down the remaining barriers to a single market could contribute an additional €340bn to the European GDP.
The stated aims of the EU Commission are to create “a Digital Single Market as an area where the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured and where citizens and businesses can seamlessly access and exercise online activities under conditions of fair competition” helping to “restore Europe as a world leader in information and communications technology, with all the tools and skills required to succeed in the global digital economy.”
The Strategy identifies the principal remaining barriers to a Digital Single Market as being disparities between Member States’ contract law regimes, absence of affordable and high quality cross-border parcel delivery services within Europe and, finally, what the Commission perceives to be unfair discrimination against consumers when accessing content or buying goods and services online due to their nationality, residence or geographical location, within the borders of the EU.
Legislative Proposals
The draft document announces legislative proposals to address “unjustified geo-blocking … practices that result in the denial or limitation of access to websites or products and services in other Member States“; copyright reform, by allowing text and data mining and improving measures for civil enforcement; and the role of intermediaries.
Timeline for implementation
The Annex to the Strategy sets out the proposed timeframe for accomplishing the steps leading toward legislative change. Proposals for copyright reform and cross-border access will be tabled in 2015, and detailed analysis of the role of online platforms in the market and initiation of steps to tackle illegal content on the internet will take place in 2016.
The Strategy seeks to ensure that the Digital Single Market is truly “single”, so that the Single Market is realistically reflected in the digital world. The Strategy claims that bringing down the remaining barriers to a single market could contribute an additional €340bn to the European GDP.
The stated aims of the EU Commission are to create “a Digital Single Market as an area where the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured and where citizens and businesses can seamlessly access and exercise online activities under conditions of fair competition” helping to “restore Europe as a world leader in information and communications technology, with all the tools and skills required to succeed in the global digital economy.”
The Strategy identifies the principal remaining barriers to a Digital Single Market as being disparities between Member States’ contract law regimes, absence of affordable and high quality cross-border parcel delivery services within Europe and, finally, what the Commission perceives to be unfair discrimination against consumers when accessing content or buying goods and services online due to their nationality, residence or geographical location, within the borders of the EU.
Legislative Proposals
The draft document announces legislative proposals to address “unjustified geo-blocking … practices that result in the denial or limitation of access to websites or products and services in other Member States“; copyright reform, by allowing text and data mining and improving measures for civil enforcement; and the role of intermediaries.
Timeline for implementation
The Annex to the Strategy sets out the proposed timeframe for accomplishing the steps leading toward legislative change. Proposals for copyright reform and cross-border access will be tabled in 2015, and detailed analysis of the role of online platforms in the market and initiation of steps to tackle illegal content on the internet will take place in 2016.