Whitepaper: EU Digital Single Market Strategy

The EU digital single market at a glance

In May 2015, the European Commission released a Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy as a central priority of its agenda at the beginning of its four-year term. The strategy’s objective is to create an open, interconnected and digital single market and to maximize the positive impact of the digital transformation on European society and on business activity in the EU.

To this end, the Commission proposed a wide range of measures in order to create a stable legal environment, stimulate innovation, tackle market fragmentation and allow all players to tap into the new market dynamics under fair conditions. 

The DSM Strategy is built on three pillars:

• Access: better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe,
• Environment: creating the right conditions and a level playing field for digital networks and innovative services to flourish,
• Economy and Society: maximizing the growth potential of the digital economy.

Now, the ambitious project has entered its decisive phase, as the Commission aims to complete the DSM by 2019. So far, 17 legislative initiatives have been agreed by the EU’s legislative bodies, while 12 more are still pending. 

Implications for companies by the DSM strategy

How to deal with the new EU regulations

While the DSM initiatives offer significant opportunities from a business perspective, the large number of new regulations also presents a considerable challenge for companies, since they need to adjust to the changes in the respective legal regimes. Moreover, some of the measures proposed by the Commission may affect a wide range of products and services across the EU. This especially pertains to hardware sales, cloud offerings, data driven services, electronic communications services, as well as search engine, digital content and platform businesses.

In order to avoid or at least mitigate any potential adverse impact, it is necessary to monitor the status and development of the relevant proposals and to proactively analyze their possible impact on business models and the competitive environment.

As a starting point, this paper provides a briefing on key DSM initiatives and indicates their potential impact on companies affected by the new regulations. The paper also gives an overview of the legal and strategic advice Noerr provides to clients along every step of the regulatory process. 

Download Whitepaper: The EU Digital Single Market Strategy