Moving ahead with building the Digital Single Market - Main contents
A few hours ago, EU leaders gave their backing to our plans to build a Digital Single Market: endorsement at the highest political level. Now we can really start to move forward, to build a DSM for Europe.
It has been a hectic few weeks of travel so firstly, my apologies for not posting a blog for quite a long time. Then, last week, a nasty cycling accident unfortunately prevented me from attending the One Europe, One Digital Single Market conference in Riga last week.
The title says it all. It sums up the thinking behind our #DigitalSingleMarket strategy for Europe: the vision of a unified marketplace for Europe's people and business that is digital, or gradually turning digital. This is, after all, our long-term objective.
Just a few hours ago, at a summit in Brussels, EU national leaders gave their backing to these plans and called for action in its key component areas. It is good to see digital issues return to the top of the political agenda; the last time they were properly discussed at an EU summit was when I was still Prime Minister of Estonia.
In October 2013, the European Council strongly supported the Commission's (Neelie's) Digital Agenda, called for early adoption of the Telecoms Single Market proposals and stated, boldly: "the commitment to complete the digital single market by 2015 has to be delivered on".
We know today that this was too optimistic.
So, after many months of hard work to develop the strategy, this endorsement at the highest political level is very welcome.
Now we can really start to move forward, to build a DSM for Europe. The green light given by the EU's 28 countries also means that they should take some control and ownership of the various initiatives that we will present, once they are properly prepared.
I sincerely hope that with our comprehensive workplan on the table, Member States now turn their 2013 and 2015 commitments to build the Digital Single Market into reality.
We are now in the last full week of Latvia's six-month EU Presidency. I would like to thank my Latvian friends for all their hard work and efforts to promote what we want to achieve with the DSM strategy. Not all of it has been plain sailing. The DSM is not an easy task to achieve.
It's not over yet, of course - we are still working hard to try to find agreement on the Telecoms Single Market proposals, for example. I have said it many times before, but it is worth repeating again: without progress in this area, we cannot have much progress in building a DSM.
Quality telecoms networks, high-speed connectivity for all, reliable internet access in all corners of Europe: this is the backbone for a truly digital society and economy.
Next Wednesday, July 1, the 'digital baton' of the EU Presidency passes from Latvia to Luxembourg for the second half of 2015. The pressure will remain after the handover, with some important work to finish in at least two areas that are vital to the overall success of the DSM project.
They were also mentioned specifically at this week's EU summit.
Firstly, to reach agreement on reforming the EU's rules on data protection, which must be done this year. Both businesses and individuals have to be confident that their data is secure and that they can trust technology and the people who provide it.
Trust and confidence are essential for the digital economy to thrive.
Staying with security issues, the other immediate task is to finalise the Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive. Both EU countries and the Brussels institutions have long recognised the need to protect our digital networks and critical infrastructure - and to be able respond effectively to cyber-threats. Reaching agreement on NIS will be an important, and vital, step forward.
Without wanting to weigh down the Luxembourg Presidency too much, the first major proposals under the DSM strategy can be expected before the end of the year: to modernise Europe's rules on copyright and to align digital contract rights. They will certainly be controversial and not an easy ride - but both are core elements of any functioning digital single market.
At the same time, and as always, we are listening.
For all the major proposals envisaged, there will be public consultations ( here is a list of some of those that are planned, though please be aware that dates may change) where you can voice your opinions and wishes - in the same way as when we launched the dedicated Digital4EU website to gather everyone's views when the DSM strategy was being developed.
But in all, a lot to look forward to for the rest of the year. These are just the first steps in a long process.
Another blog soon.
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