New EC President Wants Coordinated Approach to Fixing Digital Economy

Instead of the current digital agenda commissioner, there would be a vice president for the digital single market -- former Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip -- and a digital economy and society commissioner, former EC Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger. Other commissioners and vice presidents would also sometimes work on digital issues, such as those in internal market, industry, justice and consumer roles, the EC said. The plan for a coordinated approach to digital issues and problems won cheers from industry groups.

Ansip’s job will be to coordinate the EC’s regulatory powers to complete the digital single market, Juncker said in a Wednesday letter to his candidate. Within the first six months of taking office, Juncker said he wants “ambitious legislative steps” toward a connected digital single market, mainly by “adding more ambition to the ongoing reform of our telecoms rules, modernising copyright rules in the light of the ongoing digital revolution ... and modernising and simplifying consumer rules for online and digital purposes.” Ansip must cooperate on a jobs, growth and investment package that helps secure private and public funding for infrastructures such as broadband networks. Other tasks include fighting cybercrime, supporting the development of creative industries and championing e-government, the letter said. He will also oversee the conclusion of negotiations on reform of EU data protection rules and review of the safe harbor data transfer agreement with the U.S.

Oettinger will work with Ansip on digital single market issues, including coming up with a harmonized approach to radio spectrum, Juncker said in a letter to the candidate. His tasks also include: (1) Supporting the deployment of a high-quality, digital network infrastructure. (2) Taking steps to turn digital research into European success stories in areas such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things and big data. (3) Developing ways to make Europe more trusted and secure online. (4) Helping the EU build a global Internet governance architecture that’s “legitimate, transparent, accountable, sustainable and inclusive."

Another key player in the digital arena will be Danish Social Liberal Party politician Margrethe Vestager. Juncker asked her to mobilize competition policy tools and market expertise to contribute to the jobs and growth agenda in areas such as the digital single market, and to ensure effective antitrust enforcement.

It’s not clear at this point how Ansip’s and Oettinger’s shared responsibilities will work, said telecom consultant Innocenzo Genna, who represents nonincumbent players. Rules of procedure will likely have to be revised, “and one could suspect that an important negotiation will take place in the next weeks,” he wrote on his blog (http://bit.ly/1BrN1J2). In the past, clusters and groupings of commissioners “have never been successful, since each commissioner tends to manage his/her portfolio as an own backyard,” wrote Genna. He said Juncker will have to ensure that coordination brings “value and results rather than internal guerrillas and inertia.”

It’s a good sign that Juncker believes that Europe needs to develop its own digital industry, said Digital Business Consulting Group Director Kimon Zorbas. DBCG advises clients on Web analytics, digital publishing and media, and regulatory matters. The transition to a data-driven economy “is challenged by technology, attitudes, fears, political and regulatory intervention, all emphasised by the realisation that the digital sector poses serious challenges. Privacy, eavesdropping, surveillance, Right-to-be-forgotten, lack of European big players, competition issues seem too much for politicians to get a grip on,” he emailed. Brussels will play an even bigger role for companies, which should consider carefully if and where to engage, especially with tensions building as some European politicians look to push back against U.S. companies and promote a European digital market, he said.

Oettinger might be influenced by Germany, which, along with Juncker, wants more European players in the digital arena, Zorbas said in an interview. That Ansip is over Oettinger could spark some potential conflict, and it’s unclear how that relationship will work, he said. Oettinger is also supposed to be responsible for matters such as online services and copyright that are currently handled by the internal market commissioner. Tackling all those issues won’t be easy, Zorbas said.

BSA/The Software Alliance praised Juncker for following through on his proposal “to create a digital champion for Europe.” BSA President Victoria Espinel urged Ansip to “consistently encourage the development and deployment of innovative new services and technologies.” The next wave of digital policies should be more about enhancing growth and less about traditional regulation, said European Telecommunications Network Operator’s Association Chairman Luigi Gambardella. The European Competitive Telecommunications Association didn’t comment.

Ansip and Oettinger must ensure that European innovators and citizens “get full benefit from the open, global Internet,” said Computer & Communications Industry Association Vice President James Waterworth. He said the digital economy shouldn’t be impeded by “vested interests with old business models, that prefer not to evolve and compete against new players and technologies."

The entire roster of commissioners, including the president, needs consent from the European Parliament, the EC said. If Juncker sees that a particular candidate could derail approval, precedent exists for him to replace him or her, said a telecom industry official. Relevant parliamentary committees reportedly will begin vetting the candidates beginning Sept. 29.