EC plan seeks to build trust in a single EU digital market

Strategy outlines five barriers to a pan-EU digital economy that need to be overcome

The European Commission has released an action plan to help build trust in a digital single market and encourage economic growth within the e-commerce sector.

The plan argues that the internet economy has contributed to a 21 per cent growth in GDP within the G8 economies over the past five years.

In addition, it states that a boost in the internet economy is important because it can lead to considerable growth in employment.

The European Commission suggests five main obstacles that the digital single market needs to overcome:

• it says the supply of legal, cross-border online services is inadequate;
• there is not enough information for online service operators or protection for internet users;
• payment and delivery systems are still inadequate;
• there are too many cases of abuse and disputes that are difficult to settle;
• insufficient use is made of high-speed communication networks and high-tech solutions.

The actions advocated by the report to address these issues include:

• improving training for online traders in their obligations and opportunities offered by the digital single market;
• boosting the capacity of the Consumer Protection Corporation network to ensure that the relevant legislation is implemented in a digital environment at European level;
• a new European internet security strategy to improve protection against cyber attacks;
• a strategy on spectrum-sharing.

The report argues that the internet economy has not yet reached its full potential and that businesses may be reluctant to commit to a single market because of "the costs and risks arising from fragmentation caused by the coexistence of 27 national legal systems".

However, a "genuine" digital single market would "generate new types of growth" and "would benefit all the territories and economic sectors of the EU", according to the plan.

It says that a trusted single digital market would mean businesses, particularly SMEs, would have better access to different markets and increase their productivity.

The report also states that with added trust there would be an increase in start-ups.