Juncker Pressing for Digital Single Market Called Good Thing by Telecom, Tech Stakeholders

New European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s push for a single digital market is a good thing, said telecom and Internet industry officials in recent interviews. Although the composition of the incoming commission won’t be known for several months, Juncker said he intends, within the first six months of his term, to take “ambitious legislative steps” toward such a market. But it’s too soon to tell whether the newly elected European Parliament will play ball and what impact, if any, the changes to all three EU institutions -- Italy took over the EU presidency July 1 -- will have on policy, said stakeholders.

Europe must take better advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies, Juncker wrote in his July 15 political guidelines for the next EC (http://bit.ly/WJCVVq). He said it must “have the courage to break down national silos in telecoms regulations, in copyright and data protection legislation, in the management of radio waves and in the application of competition law.” Juncker said he would within six months of taking office push to complete negotiations on revamped data protection rules; add “more ambition to the ongoing reform” of telecom laws; modernize copyright law in light of the digital revolution and changed consumer behavior; and simplify consumer rules for online and digital purchases.

Before his designation as candidate for EC president, Juncker was “vocal on digital issues and consolidation” in the telecom sector, said Ines Nolasco, European Competitive Telecommunications Association senior regulatory affairs manager. He said one of his key priorities would to create digital jobs, with a digital single market in place by 2020, and gave political support to cross-border combinations in the telecom sector, she said. Juncker’s plans could “bring some policy and regulatory challenges to ECTA,” she said.

Juncker “put digital at the top of his policy priorities,” said European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association Director Daniel Pataki. “We are positive on the fact that there is political momentum for pro-innovation and pro-investment policies.” That promises a stronger European telecom sector, he said. Former EC President Manuel José Barroso was interested in telecom issues, so Juncker’s stance is recognition of the importance and pervasiveness of digital in all sectors, said an Internet industry official. The first test of Juncker on details will be the appointment of a new digital agenda commissioner, he said. Under Barroso, draft legislation was often disjointed, with pieces of it originating from several different departments, he said. The Internet sector hopes the new digital agenda commissioner will be able to coordinate the work of different EC directorates on digital issues, he said.

"Rumour has it” that Juncker could go for a smaller number of key assignments so the policy issues of some directorates could be grouped into a single one with a broader reach, said Nolasco. This could mean that the work of DG CNECT, which handles digital and telecom matters, could be allocated to some overarching department, with two commissioners working side-by-side on a wider array of issues, she said.

Parliament Power Shift

European Parliament committees with jurisdiction over telecom/digital issues changed after the May EU elections. The composition of the entire Parliament and of the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee is “significantly” different, Nolasco said. Pilar del Castillo, of the European People’s Party (EPP) and Spain, the author of Parliament’s response to the EC on the telecom single market package, was reconfirmed as rapporteur, “so we can expect her to push for agreement/adoption,” Nolasco said.

There had been talk of creating an ad hoc digital committee, but most stakeholders we talked to said that won’t happen, including European Digital Rights Executive Director Joe McNamee. Many of the ongoing files and the ones to come “will be haggled over between the [Legal Affairs, Internal Market and Consumer Protection, Economic and Monetary Affairs] and ITRE as before,” said European Consumers’ Organisation Communications Officer John Phelan.

Since the last Parliament was elected, in 2009, “the app economy skyrocketed, social photo sharing sites -- Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat -- launched, and eCommerce sales hit $1 trillion worldwide,” said AT&T Vice President International External Affairs Karim Antonio Lesina in a July 16 public policy update e-newsletter. The question is whether European leaders will embrace the digital economy over the coming five years, or relegate Europe to a second-class digital division of global competition, he wrote. AT&T wants Europe to encourage companies and entrepreneurs to be disruptive, and to drive investment in technology and communications infrastructure, he said.

Tech industry association DigitalEurope is “watching the formation of the Parliament committees and the process of selecting commissioners with great interest,” said Communications Director Paul Meller.

"Europe cannot miss the opportunities of the digital revolution,” the Italian government said in its presidency program, “Europe, A Fresh Start.” It called an “absolute priority” the creation of a modern, responsive regulatory framework to remove barriers to e-commerce and complete the digital single market. As the telecom market is the cornerstone of the digital market, the presidency “will strive to facilitate an agreement in the Council and finalise the subsequent negotiations with the European Parliament,” it said.

Whether the presidency will get the telecom package adopted before its term ends in December “remains rather uncertain,” said ECTA’s Nolasco. EU members have been asked to submit written comments on the proposal to the presidency by Aug. 18, she said. Nolasco understands “informally” that some governments are looking to propose a mini-package focused on net neutrality, consumer protection and mobile roaming, while “others want to kill the initiative,” she said. The EC is also apparently readying a submission, she said.