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Digital economy

Digital is crucial to ensure Europe’s competitive advantage in the global economy and deliver growth and jobs. Technology will offer EU businesses new opportunities to close the gap with their competitors at global level.

The full economic and societal benefits of digital need to be fully realised. A greater focus on better regulation principles is required to ensure the actions of the strategy remain innovation and investment-friendly so that its full benefits can be reaped. Rules must be robust to remain relevant in the rapidly changing digital landscape. Legislation should remain technology-neutral, seek to create a level playing field and avoid steering technological development. Not every technological advancement needs to be followed by legislation. Europe should rebalance its risk-averse approach to digital policy and foster the economic and societal benefits new technologies offer. Legislation is only required where real market failures exist.

Completing the digital single market has the potential of contributing €415 billion a year to our economy and creating 100,000s of new jobs. But this is not just about economics; improvements in technology have the ability to improve society on the whole, our healthcare, agriculture, education, infrastructure and public finance.

Last updated: 15 January 2019