The European Commission has called for 'swift action' to drive forward its Digital Single Market initiative across the European Union.
The Commission has published its mid-term review of its Digital Single Market strategy, which takes stock of the progress made, calls on co-legislators to swiftly act on all proposals already presented, and outlines further action on online platforms, the data economy and cybersecurity.
Since May 2015, the European Commission has delivered 35 legislative proposals and policy initiatives as part of its Digital Single Market strategy.
The focus is now on obtaining political agreement to boost investments in 'high-speed and quality networks', which are 'critical' for the full deployment of the digital economy and society, said the Commission.
Andrus Ansip, vice-president for the Digital Single Market, said: "The European Parliament and member states need to adopt these proposals as soon as possible, for new jobs, business and innovation to take off across Europe. Two years on, we propose to update our strategy to reflect new challenges and technologies.
"We need cyber-secure infrastructure across all parts of the EU so that everyone everywhere can enjoy high-speed connectivity safely. We have already agreed on strong EU rules for personal data protection, we now need to make sure that non-personal data can flow freely to assist connected cars and eHealth services. And we need high-performance computing along with a digitally skilled workforce to make the most out of the data economy."
On the data economy, the Commission is preparing a legislative initiative on the cross-border free flow of non-personal data (Autumn 2017) and an initiative on accessibility and the re-use of public and publicly funded data (Spring 2018).
In cybersecurity, by September 2017 the Commission will review the 2013 EU Cybersecurity Strategy, and the mandate of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA), to align it to a new EU-wide framework on cybersecurity. The Commission will also propose additional measures on cyber security standards, certification and labelling to make connected objects - the Internet of Things - more cyber secure.
In the area of online platforms, by the end of 2017, the Commission will prepare an initiative to address 'unfair contractual clauses and trading practices' identified in platform-to-business relationships.
In addition, the Commission wants to address the need for further investment in digital infrastructure and technologies in areas where investment 'needs to go far beyond the capacity of single member states', such as high performance computing.
"A fully functional Digital Single Market could contribute €415bn per year to our economy and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs," said the Commission.