Digital Single Market: status of actions
Published on 10th May 2016
To mark the one year anniversary of the European Commission’s formal announcement of the Digital Single Market on 6 May 2015, here is the status of the 16 actions listed in the announcement’s Annex (Roadmap for completing the Digital Single Market):
| Action | Consultation – status | Legislation – status | |
| Pillar 1 – Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe | |||
| Legislative proposals for simple and effective cross-border contract rules for consumers and businesses. | Closed on 03/09/2015.
| On 09/12/2015 the Commission
Click here | |
| Review of the Regulation on Consumer Protection Cooperation | No consultation planned. | The Inception Impact Assessment is available here. The Commission launched an EU-wide online dispute resolution platform on 15 February 2016 (see here for details). | |
| Measures in the area of parcel delivery. | Closed on 29/06/2015.
More analysis is | The Commission will launch measures and promote action by industry in the first half of 2016 to improve price transparency and enhanced regulatory oversight of parcel delivery. | |
| A wide ranging review to prepare legislative proposals to tackle unjustified Geo-blocking. | Closed on 28/12/2015.
Click here | Click here for the Commission’s full report. Legislative proposals are expected to be published in May 2016. | |
| Competition sector inquiry into e-commerce, relating to the online trade of goods and the provision of online services | No consultation planned. | Click here for the announcement of the inquiry. The Commission published its preliminary report on 18 March 2016 (see here). The final report is expected mid 2016. | |
| Review of the Satellite and Cable Directive. | Closed on 16/11/2015.
Click here | Click here for the Commission’s full report, which will contribute to the evaluation of the Directive and to assessing options to enhance cross-border distribution of TV and radio programmes online. | |
| Legislative proposals for a reform of the copyright regime | Consultation on the Enforcement
Consultation on the role of |
| |
| Legislative proposals to reduce the administrative burden on business arising from different VAT regimes. | Closed 18/12/2015.
Click here | The Commission is expected to make legislative proposals by the end of 2016 (click here for its “Action Plan on VAT”). | |
| Pillar 2 – Creating the right conditions for digital networks and services to flourish | |||
| Legislative proposals to reform the current telecoms rules. | Closed on 7/12/2015.
Click here | The full synopsis will feed into the review of the regulatory framework for telecommunications (a summary of which can be found here) and is likely to form the basis of a legislative proposal later this year. | |
| Review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. | Closed on 30/09/2015.
Click here | The Commission is expected to publish a full synopsis. The results will feed into the REFIT Evaluation and Impact Assessment accompanying the legislative proposal later this year. | |
| Comprehensive analysis of the role of the platforms in the market including illegal content on the Internet. | Closed on 06/01/2016.
Click here | The Commission has launched 3 external studies analysing the consultation’s replies. A full report is expected to be published shortly and is likely to form the basis of a legislative proposal later this year. | |
| Review of the e-Privacy Directive | Open until 05/07/2016.
| A legislative proposal to reform the e-Privacy directive is expected to be published by the end of 2016. | |
| Establishment of a Cybersecurity contractual Public-Private Partnership. | Closed on 11/03/2016.
Results not yet available. Click here | Andrus Ansip is reported (here) to have said that the partnership will be launched in early 2017. | |
| Pillar 3 – Maximising the growth potential of the Digital Economy | |||
| Initiatives on data ownership, free flow of data (e.g. between cloud providers) and on a European Cloud. | Relevant questions included in the Platforms Consultation at 11. | An Inception Impact Assessment on the
A consultation workshop on the Free | |
| Adoption of a Priority ICT Standards Plan and extending the European Interoperability Framework for public services. | Closed on 04/01/2016.
Click here | Click here for the Commission’s Communication on ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market. | |
| New e-Government Action Plan including an initiative on the ‘Once-Only’ principle and an initiative on building up the interconnection of business registers. | Closed on 22/01/0216.
Click here | Click here for the Commission’s Communication on the EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016 – 2020. | |
