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EU, what
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Digital Paving the way for a Digital Single Market 4
E-Commerce and Online Services
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Competitiveness 14
EU Energy Policy: A multi-faceted approach for 2016
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Digital
Paving the way for
a Digital Single
Market
In 2016, the European Commission plans to translate all
the initiatives announced in the Digital Single Market
(DSM) strategy of May 2015 into individual legislative
and non-legislative proposals. Besides the first two proposals presented in December 2015 on cross-border portability of online content services and on the revision of
the copyright framework, the Commission will this year
address several other major topics, such as geo-blocking, cybersecurity, online platforms and allocation of the
radio spectrum.
The European Parliament is already making its voice
heard, with the adoption of a non-legislative report on
19 January, in which it calls on the Commission to table
its reforms without delay, while focusing on increasing
consumer choice online. European stakeholders are also
actively contributing to the debate given the many financial, legal and cultural interests at stake. This January,
there still seems to be a long way to go before achieving
an operational DSM, but 2016 will undoubtedly be an intensive legislative year on the digital dossiers.
In the coming months, the European Commission is expected to publish the results of its public consultation on the role
of online platforms, which closed in January. The Commission believes that the emergence of platforms can bring many
benefits to consumers and suppliers via e-commerce, but is
concerned about the use of personal data, the protection of
consumers and the growing bargaining power of these platform on smaller market players. The Dutch presidency of the
Council claimed at an informal meeting on competitiveness
that online platforms raise several questions, notably in the
areas of taxation and responsibility. In a public consultation
on this issue closed held in 2015, respondents identified uncertainties regarding rights and obligations for users and providers as a major problem for the development of platforms
and collaborative economy. They pointed out that platforms
should be more transparent, especially regarding current service providers, search results, mechanisms for making criticism, and terms and conditions for the use of data. A combination of regulatory solutions, self-regulatory and market
dynamics could solve these problems, according to them.
Many stakeholders expressed concerns over the Commissions plan to create a uniform regulatory framework. EDIMA,
the European association representing major online platforms (Amazon, Apple and Facebook), stated that platforms
should not be subjected to any increased legal obligations or
unreasonable or unworkable conditions, pointing out that current legislation already addresses many of the Commissions
concerns and there is no reason to create a rule for online
platforms that is different than a physical store. On the other
hand, academic institutions such as the Cologne Research
Institute recommended that the EU guarantee a level playing
field and that transparency of online platforms is important in
order to ensure trust in them. Jean Tirole, 2014 Nobel Laureate in Economics, stated that the regulation should not build
up entry barriers to new players and that authorities will have
to face many challenges, such as discrimination of users on
the basis of their preferences or labour, and fiscal issues
caused by the sharing economy (such as Airbnb or Uber).
It is the first time that this sensitive issue is being addressed
by the Commission. The results of the consultation will feed
into a comprehensive assessment on the role of platforms
the results of which will be published in the first half of 2016.
It is not certain yet if the European Commission will translate
this exercise into a more binding legislative proposal.
While the proposal was well received by consumer organisations, it has raised concerns among creative stakeholders
such as producers, distributors and broadcasters, who complain of a lack of legal certainty, especially surrounding the
vague notion of temporary presence in another Member
State. Concerns were also raised on the impact it might have
on current licensing practices for rights holders. The International Federation of Film Producers Associations underlined
their position that licensing distribution rights by territory remains fundamental to the financing, production and distribution of content not just in the EU, but worldwide.
The proposal will be examined by the Parliament and the
Council in the coming months, with a view to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
The provisional deal aims to improve cybersecurity capabilities in Member States, with the establishment of a list of essential services operators, which refer to companies active in
the energy, financial services, banking, transport or healthcare sectors. They will be required to ensure that they are
robust enough to resist cyber-attacks and will have to notify
public authorities designated by Member States of any significant cyber incidents. Digital services providers also fall
within the scope of the Directive, including online marketplaces, search engines and cloud services. Concretely, internet companies such as Google, Amazon or eBay will have to
ensure that their infrastructures are safe and to report major
incidents.
This directive still needs to be formally approved by both the
Council and the Parliament in spring 2016. Thereafter, Member States will have 21 months to implement the Directive
into their own national law systems, and will have another 6
months to identify the essential service operators.
TV broadcasters will be moved to the lower part (the sub700 MHz band), including digital terrestrial television (DTT)
channels. The chosen legislative instrument is a decision,
which will now be examined by the Parliament and Member
States in the coming months, for an adoption expected at the
end of 2016.
Revision of the
Satellite and Cable
Directive
Proposal in June
Proposal on a
Directive on the
700MHz Band
Proposal in February
Proposal on
Phasing out
Geo-Blocking
Proposal in
May
Launch of
Cybersecurity PPP
June-July
Revision of the
e-Privacy Directive
Consultation in Q2
proposal in 2017
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Comprehensive
assessment on the role
of Online platforms
Communication in Q2
Proposal
on cloud
computing
Proposal in
March
Revision of the
Telecom Package
Proposal in JuneJuly
Review of the
Audiovisual
Media Services
Directive
Proposal in June
Cross-border delivery
of packages
Proposal in May
Legislative proposals
on Copyright
Proposal in June
Energy
2016 : translating
the EU strategy
into new legislative
proposals
In its first State of the Energy Union released at the end of
2015, the European Commission reviewed the progress made
since the release of the Strategy and identified key legislative and non-legislative initiatives to be delivered throughout
2016. In the words of Maro efovi, the European Commission vice president for energy union, 2016 will be the year
of delivery putting in place most of the pieces of legislation
linked to the three European energy objectives of sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness.
Sustainability
The EU is well on track to meet its EU 2020 targets in greenhouse gas emissions, with levels expected to be 24% lower
in 2020 than in 1990 (against the binding target of 20%). The
EU is also likely to exceed its renewable energy goals with
nineteen Member States expected to exceed their national renewable energy targets. However, the European Commission
believes that further efforts are needed to put the right decarbonisation incentives in place, especially as regards energy
efficiency and the 2030 long-term energy targets.
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Security of supply
The ongoing Ukraine crisis, persistent low oil prices, new
projects for gas pipelines from Russia and the nuclear agreement with Iran have shown that Europe needs to support a
more coherent foreign and energy policy to better take into
account geopolitical developments. As such, in 2016, the European Commission will put forward a certain number of proposals to better address current challenges in energy supply.
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Competitiveness
The European Commission acknowledges the underperformance of the EU energy system in terms of investment,
competition and regulatory fragmentation. To address such
a gap, it will introduce in 2016 a new proposal on Electricity
Market Design, a topic of utmost importance to the energy
business community.
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EU Energy Policy:
A multi-faceted approach for 2016
Revision of
the Security of
Electricy Supply
Regulation
Proposal in Q2
Revision of the
Energy Efficiency
Directive
Consultations in Q1 Proposal in Q3
Allocation
of EU
funds for
R&D
Ongoing
Revision of the
Decision on
Intergovernmental
agreements in the
field of energy
Proposal in Q1
Strategy for
Heating and
cooling
Communication in
Q1
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Revision of the EU
Emissions Trading
System
Agreement in Q3
Revision of the
renewable Energy
Package
Consultations in Q1 Proposal in Q3
Proposal for an
Electricity Market
Design Directive
Proposal in Q3
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francois.troussier@mslgroup.com
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