Tech trade bodies from the UK, France and Germany have called on policy makers and politicians to apply eight principles to the development of policy and legislative proposals that will define the EU’s Digital Single Market.
techUK, Syntec Numerique and Bitkom will meet with EU policy makers and MEPs to discuss the European Commission’s draft proposals set to be published next autumn, with the final document set to be published in early 2017.
The principals put forward to the European commission are:The eight principles are:
1. Embrace change
2. Embrace global
3. Make it easier not harder for businesses to innovate
4. Make the world simpler not more complicated
5. Leave space for innovation to overcome barriers and bottlenecks
6. Use the right tools for the job
7. Be wary of unintended consequences
8. Move at pace
Julian David, CEO at techUK, said: "The EU Digital Single Market is at the heart of the competitiveness agenda. Recent estimates show that the right implementation could create 3.8m jobs across Europe, so it’s crucial we get this right."
Dr. Bernhard Rohleder, CEO of Bitkom, said: "There is a real sense of digital optimism. By building a bigger market with fewer barriers to trade we can help European companies grow and scale. This is about building on success."
Laurent Baudart, CEO of Syntec Numerique, said: "These eight principles should be used by policy makers and politicians across Europe to test ideas and refine our policies. If applied critically they will help us understand what we should and shouldn’t do to build the Digital Single Market."
The three trade associations represent more than 4500 companies in the three countries.
