The ubiquitous digital single market

The aim of the Fact Sheets is to provide an overview of European integration and of the European Parliament’s contribution to that process.

Created in 1979 for Parliament’s first direct elections, the Fact Sheets are intended to provide non specialists with a straightforward and concise — but also accurate — overview of the European Union’s institutions and policies, and of the role that Parliament plays in their development.

The Fact Sheets are grouped into six chapters:

+ How the European Union works, which addresses the EU’s historical development, legal system, institutions and bodies, decision-making procedures and financing;
+ Citizens’ Europe, which describes individual and collective rights;
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Drafted by the policy departments and the Economic Governance Support Unit, the Fact Sheets are available in 23 languages.

For any inquiries, please contact the Unit for Coordination of Editorial and Communication Activities: (e mail: editorial-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu).The digital single market is one of the most promising and challenging areas of progress, creating potential efficiency gains of €415bn. It opens up new opportunities to boost the economy through e-commerce, while at the same time facilitating administrative and financial compliance for businesses and empowering customers through e-government. Market and government services developed within the digital single market are evolving from fixed to mobile platforms and becoming increasingly ubiquitous, offering access to information and content any time, anywhere and on any device (ubiquitous commerce and ubiquitous government).

These advances call for a regulatory framework that is conducive to the development of cloud computing, borderless mobile data connectivity and simplified access to information and content, while safeguarding privacy, personal data, cybersecurity and net neutrality.

Authors: Mariusz Maciejewski / Louis Dancourt / Magdalena Dimova

• Primary Source

EP: EPRS: Further Fact Sheets on the European Union http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/search.html?documentTypes=FACT_SHEET

European Parliament: At Your Service: Stay Informed: Fact Sheets on the European Union http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html

European Commission: DG Connect: Digital Single Market https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/digital-single-market

The Conversation, 05.01.18: Net neutrality may be dead in the US, but Europe is still strongly committed to open internet access https://theconversation.com/net-neutrality-may-be-dead-in-the-us-but-europe-is-still-strongly-committed-to-open-internet-access-89521

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