EU summit to focus on digital economy

The leaders of the European Union will next week be asked to give political momentum to proposals to modernise Europe’s digital economy.

Amid fears that the European hi-tech industry is falling even further behind rivals in the US and China, EU government leaders are to be confronted with a proposed deadline of 2015 to complete the digital single market, urged by Herman van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and the European Commission.

But at the heart of discussions lies a tension between the high-level nature of discussions at EU summits and the technical issues in the Commission’s recent initiatives for the digital economy. This will be most evident in discussions of the Commission‘s proposal to integrate Europe’s fragmented telecoms markets.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (24 and 25 October) with the digital economy and innovation top of the agenda. EU leaders are looking to the hi-tech sector to contribute more growth and employment to stagnating European economies.

On the agenda are wide-ranging Commission proposals for reforms for the telecoms sector, as well as five other digital agenda initiatives, including cyber- security, cloud computing and the rollout of broadband networks. José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, has made a priority of winning adoption of the telecoms package before the European Parliament dissolves in April 2014.

But some member states are trying to shift the focus of European Council discussions away from the telecoms sector and towards broader issues affecting the EU’s digital industry.

Premature

France leads a group of member states that considers discussion of the telecoms package to be premature. Telecommunications ministers have not yet discussed the package, and EU leaders cannot be expected to go into the detail of telecoms regulation, one EU diplomat said. Instead, discussions should concentrate on stimulating Europe’s digital industry through changed rules on public procurement and new financial support for start-ups in the digital sector, the group argues.

The French government, a critic of the practices of the likes of Google, Amazon and Bookings.com, is pushing for the summit to boost protection on the internet for copyright owners, and to combat tax avoidance by hi-tech companies.

Alongside the attention it will give to completing the digital single market, the summit is also expected to call for the creation of a single EU market for cloud computing services, to be achieved through standard setting and additional rules on security.

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