The European Commission has finally revealed a more concrete plan of the long envisaged project of a single digital market, which has been one of its top priorities. The Commission thus reacts to the fact that digital technologies are transforming the world in every walk of life and the EU must therefore embrace the tech revolution and widen digital opportunities for both individuals and businesses.
Currently, neither individuals nor firms are making a full use of the potential offered by digital economy. Only 15 percent of consumers shop online from another EU country and only 7 percent of small- and medium-sized enterprises sell cross-border. Moreover, neither businesses nor governments sufficiently use digital tools to provide services online. Thus, the main objective of the single digital market is to remove regulatory obstacles and move from 28 individual digital markets to a single EU-wide market. Analysts estimate that a fully operational and functional single digital market could earn €415 billion per year for the European economy and create thousands of jobs.
The Commission defined six targeted actions built on three pillars due to be completed by the end of this year: (1) better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe; (2) creating the right conditions and a level playing field for digital networks and innovative services to flourish; (3) maximizing the growth potential of the digital economy. More specifically, the Commission will also propose rules to make cross-border e-commerce easier, and it will also support more efficient and affordable parcel delivery and a modern and more European copyright law. Moreover, Brussels aims to create legislation to help enforce consumer rules more rapidly and consistently, end unjustified geo-blocking, and also identify potential competition concerns affecting EU-wide e-commerce.
