EU Unveils Plans for a Digital Single Market
The European Union announced today its long-anticipated action plan that aims to boost digital activities within its member states in an effort to improve the standings of EU companies in the digital economy.
The Digital Single Market (DSM) plan was unveiled today after six months in the making. The European policymakers hope to spur growth by promoting innovation and future-oriented activities that will help European companies compete domestically and internationally. The plan, which the European Commission designates as one of its 10 political priorities, consists of 16 policies that will be implemented and delivered by the end of 2016. The EU projects that the changes can generate more than €415 billion in extra growth and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for both startups and established companies.
The DSM plan is split into three main priority areas in which solutions will be deployed – Access, Environment, and Economy & Society.
The first aims at boosting e-commerce activities by making it easier for both consumers and business to trade online. The EU policy makers hope to achieve this by lowering the costs for parcel deliveries, removing geographical limitations on trade within the union, and minimizing the VAT compliance costs for shipping internationally.
Environment
The second priority area of the DSM plan has the goal of developing the right environment in which digital activities can flourish. This includes giving Internet users better data protection rules when active online and investing in a faster and more available broadband network for both desktop and mobile users.
Economy & Society
Finally, the Economy & Society priority area aims to push companies into using more modern digital tools, such as big data and cloud computing, and to provide the society with the right digital skills needed for the future. The EU policymakers believe that this will increase growth potential and kick-start the digital economy.
The Digital Single Market plan still has to be turned into law by national governments before it can become reality but it clearly shows the importance the European Commission places on digitalization and its important role in the future of business.
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