A single market in ICT: what the European Council means for you - Main contents

The conclusions of yesterday evening’s European Council contain a very significant message for the Digital Agenda. It asks for work to be prioritised in a few areas essential to growth and competitiveness—in particular information and communication services (ICT):

the European Council notes the Commission’s intention to report well before October on the state of play and the remaining obstacles to be tackled so as to ensure the completion of a fully functioning Digital Single Market by 2015, as well as concrete measures to establish the single market in Information and Communications Technology as early as possible.

For anyone who uses digital communications - from mobile phones to the internet - this is important and welcome news. And I would guess that’s everyone reading this blog.

The EU has spent the past few decades liberalising and improving the EU’s telecoms market. That has brought more competition, lower call and broadband prices, and significant new consumer rights. Gone are the days when your “choice” was restricted to confirming you would use the single, national phone company. And we are working hard to prove that sustainable competition and investment in high-speed networks can go hand in hand.

Unfortunately, the EU is still essentially a collection of 27 distinct national telecoms markets. And that fragmentation has consequences. It means that customer choice, for both consumers and business users, is limited to what happens to be on offer locally - and that can vary a lot, due to factors such as diverging regulation or the patchwork of uncoordinated past spectrum assignments for wireless operators. For businesses like telecoms operators, including those present in multiple countries, it means they don’t get the advantages of organising their operations to serve an EU-wide market, and can’t reach the size and scale needed to invest, innovate and compete globally.

Already I know that many of these are nagging issues for many Europeans. Too often, it’s the digital device in your pocket that constantly (and artificially) reminds you of national borders that are supposed to have disappeared. In tomorrow’s world of machine-to-machine communications—connected cars, mobile payments, and the Internet of Things—this could be even more of an issue.

Solving these problems takes ambition: but the potential reward is significant. Fully completing the EU’s single market in digital communications could boost our economy by up to €110 billion a year; over 0.8% of GDP. That’s too good an opportunity to miss.

So, in response to the European Council’s request, I will present a package of measures for endorsement by their October meeting.

I look forward to working with Member States, the European Parliament, the digital industry and consumers over the next few months to prepare that.

This has the potential to make people’s lives easier, make our businesses more productive, and ensure a globally competitive European telecoms sector. At a time when our economy really needs a boost, it’s great to see European leaders recognising the potential of EU action.