This week, the EU Commission presented the main targets of its major project “Digital Single Market”. This includes the end of geo-blocking, facilities in the e-commerce sector and broadband expansion. However, no concrete measures were declared; according to Vice-President Andrus Ansip these would be announced on May 6. Roaming was also on the agenda – Ansip clearly came out in favour of their abolition.

Apart from the Energy Union and the Growth and Jobs Initiative, the Digital Single Market is a major priority in the work programme of the Juncker Commission. Following a debate in the College of Commissioners, the Vice-President presented the challenges for the Digital Single Market, which will be addressed in the coming months. The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour is represented with one member in the Commission's Committee of Experts on this subject.

Geo-blocking as an antithesis to market freedoms

Abolishing geo-blocking was of particular concern to Ansip. This technology guarantees that internet users can only view purchased contents – e.g. from Netflix or iTunes – where the vendor has the necessary rights for the respective material. According to the Vice-President, such an approach was in contrast to the principle of the free Single Market. The intended modernisation of the copyright could probably also be seen within this context.

With regard to net neutrality one had to find an EU-wide definition first. However, the basic approach had to be similar to that in the USA: no blocking and no throttling.

Facilitating online shipping

Further changes have been planned within the e-commerce sector, i.e. online shipping via providers/platforms such as eBay or Amazon: simpler options shall be created for sellers to render account for Value Added Tax in respect of sales to foreign customers. The Commission also plans to introduce more transparency with regard to parcel delivery costs to stop absurd price differences in future. The Vice-President cited several examples where the delivery to a certain direction would cost more than to another. These changes shall contribute to the hope that the share of SMEs selling their products abroad will rise from currently 7 % to 50 %.

Broadband expansion as basic requirement for Data economy

With regard to the 4G/LTE expansion, Europa is far lagging behind the USA: whilst on the old continent only 25 % of all citizens has access to LTE, the value in the new world lies at 90 %. To address this, the Commission intends to start with frequency spectra to enable pan-European telecommunication services. Infrastructure investments shall be encouraged by uniform rules.

According to the EU Commission, trading with data (“big data”) is a “goldmine”, which will also be made extractable by EU-wide regulations with regard to property right, data protection, standards and interoperability.

Commission opposes Member States in respect of roaming

When it came to roaming, the Vice-President was surprisingly frank. According to the weekly newspaper European Voice , the proposal by the Council, which had also been published in the AK EUROPA Newsletter , was a “joke”. It provides for European mobile phone customers to be given a small “free roaming” contingent (5 minutes/5 SMS/5 MB per day for 7 days) – after that, charges would be incurred again.

According to Ansip, it was still the target to abolish roaming surcharges in the near future.