With the creation of the Digital Single Market The Commission wants to harmonize contracting rules among all countries, facilitate the distribution of products, eliminate unjustified digital borders when consuming content, determine and regulate the relationship between digital platforms and their providers to favor the free competition, create a copyright at a European level, unify VAT and launch “a European cloud”, something like their own digital space through which users can access their own content.
The implications at all levels are extraordinary. Surely consumers will gain security and protection when buying online, in addition to multiplying the possibilities of buying and therefore improving competition by lowering prices. The idea of unifying VAT downwards will benefit consumers but also small businesses. In fact, companies will also see their interests favored with measures such as the elimination of “geographical blocking” that will allow the entry of new companies into the European digital world.
The content creation sector is also in the spotlight. The idea is to protect it (European copyright) and empower it with a battery of measures. With the digital union, the market will expand and transactions between the 28 EU countries will multiply. Finally, the digital industry itself will be boosted by the huge amounts of money that the Commission plans to invest in issues such as cybersecurity and others.
The proposal sounds good and seems to put consumer protection before the demands of companies (in fact, some business model will necessarily disappear with the new regulation) but why does the Commission talk so little about such important issues also in this logic such as health, education or energy? why does the Commission love to start everything with the word ‘market’? There we leave it.