| Commissioner Reding’s programme: “Digital Europe” – 09/07/2009 |
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On July 9th, 2009, Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, gave a speech in occasion of the “Ludwig Erhard lecture” organised by the Lisbon Council for economic competitiveness and social renewal, a think tank. The speech’s title is “Digital Europe – Europe’s fast track to economic recovery”. Ms. Reding explained that the strategy for Digital Europe is composed of a part that can be prepared this year by the present Commission and a second, long-term plan to be carried out during the next five years. I. The imminent actions for boosting Digital Europe – Promote competitive infrastructures The policy target of the European Commission (EC) is clearly to have broadband internet access to all Europeans by 2010, and high-speed broadband by 2013, either via fixed or via wireless connections. Ms. Reding expressed regret for the current stalemate on the Telecom Package review, which is blocked due to a disagreement between the European Parliament and the Council on a single article. She called “on both sides of this debate to come to a very swift agreement”. The EC should encourage effective competition and sustainable investment in Next Generation Networks (NGN) – in particular into fibre networks instead of copper ones – which only solid and clear rules can provide. The EC should also make 3G mobile phones services more attractive in Europe and pave the way for LTE, the next generation of mobile services. Finally she called Member States (MS) to accelerate the ongoing switchover from analogue to digital TV in order to free valuable radio spectrum for new communications and content services; the EU-wide deadline is set for 2012. She also announced that she will present a package of draft measures in order to accelerate Europe's digital switchover on July 10th, 2009. II. Digital Priorities for the next five years While the EC will open a broader consultation on Digital Europe Strategy in August, the Commissioner outlined four priority areas: Easier access to digital content Ms. Reding lamented the “extremely polarised debate” between copyright holders and civil liberties campaigners. She believes that both sides should work to find solutions palatable for all in a world that is changing fast. While it is proper to punish abuses, most of users are unable to find attractive and consumer-friendly legal offers. She questioned the effectiveness of the current legal system for intellectual property rights. She openly said that “growing internet piracy is a vote of no-confidence in existing business models and legal solutions.” As a start, the licensing of intellectual property rights for online services covering the territory of all 27 EU MS should be facilitated. “For online content in a single market of 27 MS, economies of scale and consumer-friendly solutions will require a much simpler and less fragmented regulatory framework than the one of today.” As a further measure, Europe needs a modern set of rules that encourage the digitisation of books. The other three priorities are: the preparation of a European space for mobile payments, the opening of digital economy to SMEs and the better use of innovative ICT solutions to meet objectives of a low-carbon economy. Commissioner Reding also announced that her government has formally appointed her as the Luxembourgish candidate for the next Commission. Next steps: July 10th, 2009: presentation of draft measures to accelerate the digital TV switchover August 2009: publication of a public consultation on Digital Europe is expected To access the full text of the speech, please click here. |
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