Digital Single Market makes progress

The time has come to check on the progress made in the Digital Single Market Strategy, which the European Commission (EC) launched in 2015 with the ambitious aim of guaranteeing the free movement of goods, people, services and capital in the digital environment, with advanced data protection and protection of consumer rights and free competition.

To meet the strategy’s objectives, 30 legislative proposals have been launched, which can be divided into six general blocks, and 28 have already been passed or are in the advanced stages of negotiation. These legislative initiatives seek to (i) guarantee better connectivity for all EU citizens, (ii) incentivize ecommerce free of discrimination based on nationality and residence, (iii) update media and copyright rules, (iv) reinforce privacy and cybersecurity, and (v) incentivize the use of new technologies in public administrations to make it easier for citizens to deal with government.

The legislation already approved includes the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (commented on in this blog post), the Digital Content Directive and the Directive on the Sale of Goods (analyzed in this blog post) and the Geoblocking Regulation, which will certainly affect how we consume online. The abolition of roaming charges in the EU in 2017 also formed part of this strategy, which has allowed users to enjoy their domestic mobile pricing anywhere within the EU.

The EC aims to complete the Digital Single Market project before the end of the current legislative cycle, meaning that in the coming months, the final outstanding proposals should be approved in this area, namely the (i) proposal for a regulation on the protection of personal data in electronic communications (the ePrivacy Regulation), and (ii) proposal for a regulation establishing the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre and the Network of National Coordination Centers.