Digital Single Market
According to the commission, investment, the acknowledgement of international dimension, and effective governance are required for the advancing of the Digital Single Market.
[6] 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.
To address this, the commission has proposed two directives[11] (2015) 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".
The environment of the European common market must be conducive to fair competition between traditional telecoms companies and new internet players.
[13] 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 Parliament has played a key role[17] in the restarting of the internal market, and is an ardent advocate and agenda setter for the DSM.
In January 2016, to respond to the DSM Strategy proposal, the European Parliament adopted a resolution named "Towards a Digital Single Market Act".
The legislation covers a wide range of digital concerns, from the elimination of roaming charges[21] 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"[22] or a directive on "copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market".
[23] According to the EP, the legislative achievements of the institution in the DSM area are supplying 177 billion[24] euro every year to economic growth in the European Union.
[24] 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.
For the benefits of the digital revolution to be within everyone's reach, Europe needs a regulatory framework applicable to electronic communications that promotes the deployment of infrastructures capable of functioning seamlessly throughout the EU, including in rural areas, while preserving effective competition.
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.
The Geo-blocking regulation adopted by the EU in February 2018 prohibits any attempt to restrict consumers access to goods and services on e-commerce websites on the basis of their nationality or country of residence and establishment.
It means that mobile users periodically travelling in the EU are able to call, text and access the Internet on their domestic tariff.
[33] Its regulation which aims to improve price transparency and to facilitate the assessment of certain high cross-border tariffs, entered into force on 22 May 2018.
General conditions of sale of the affected parcel delivery companies and a detailed description of their complaints procedure have to be submitted to the national regulator.
Indeed, each individual national regulator has to publish the public list of tariffs and the terminal rates applicable to items originating from other Member States on a dedicated website and keep them updated.
The aim is to avoid having to deal with a number of different national tax systems and then VAT rules are simplified in order to incentivize cross-border trade, combat VAT fraud (especially by non-EU actors), ensure fair competition for EU businesses, and provide equal treatment for online publications.
[36] Addressing unlawful practices and identifying rogue traders are national enforcements authorities' means to protect consumers.
Moreover, they can check geographical discrimination or after-sales conditions by carrying out mystery shopping and then can order the immediate take-down of websites hosting scams.
[35] In its mid-term evaluation of the Digital Single Market Strategy,[37][full citation needed] the Commission declared that it would present actions on unfair contracts and trading practices in platform-to-business relations.
[42][full citation needed] For Cauffman, "the protection offered largely remains limited to transparency obligations imposed on platform operators.
The second is to establish a level playing field to foster innovation, growth, and competitiveness, both in the European Single Market and globally".
[48] "Consequently, the impact of the intervention will be assessed in the context of an evaluation exercise and activate, if so required, a review clause, which will allow the Commission to take appropriate measures, including legislative proposals.
[52] In 2020, the EU demonstrated its willingness to play a key role on international dimensions, including its digital policy orientation towards societal interests, prosperity and competitiveness, through the tool of diplomacy, the use of a power of regulation and the financial instruments.
For instance, the roaming ban is a positive step toward the digital single market but the different ways by which Telecom companies are trying to poach revenue do not correspond with the bottom-up idea of market-driven integration.
Indeed, although "unjustified geo-blocking" is prohibited, small businesses are forced to commit to sell to a larger market while abiding costs this may incur depending on the destination country in question.
First, several reforms which have focused much on digital-specific regulations have added new layers of regulatory complication to data-based commerce in Europe.
Therefore, in order to create a better and larger space for the digital economy to grow, the efforts of the Europeans institutions and Member-State governments have to be redoubled in the next few years.
In a digital environment, which is by nature cross-border, national or regional markets[56] do not offer sufficient size, either to generate final demand or to support investment and innovation.
