The European Union unveiled plans to unify the European digital sector and crack down on possible abuses by dominant U.S. tech companies in an effort to boost the region’s economy.
According to the Financial Times, the European Commission “plans reforms of everything from parcel delivery to telecoms and online retailing.”
The ‘Digital Single Market’ plan is comprised of 16 initiatives focused that will help EU member countries work together and have a stronger footing in the tech industry.
The EU wants to make e-commerce more accessible across borders among its 28 member states, putting an end to practices such as geo-blocking.
On Wednesday, EU Commissioner Andrus Ansip said that there need to be more common rules in its 28 national markets to encourage competition. He said that the plans to unite the digital economy will create jobs and boost growth.
The Comisssion also opened an inquiry into the sector to see where industry giants may be stifling competition in online trade. This means assessing how Google, Amazon, e-Bay, and Facebook operate online trade.
“The internal market is not functioning as it should,” said Andrus Ansip, vice-president for the digital single market, at the launch of the proposals.
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said:
“I want to see pan-continental telecoms networks, digital services that cross borders and a wave of innovative European start-ups.”
Mark Skilton, a professor at the Warwick Business School, said:
“Creating a digital single EU market will be a big step in helping European firms to compete on an equal footing,”