EU to review behaviour of web giants in digital market overhaul

The European Commission has promised consumers better choice and access to digital content and goods from other EU countries as it unveiled a proposal for a "Digital Single Market" for the European Union today.

Announcing the new proposal - which aims to replicate the European Single Market for the digital age - the European Commission also announced it is to launch a probe into how internet companies list search results and treat data.

The Commission is to undertake a "comprehensive assessment" of online platforms – the latest move by Europe to regulate the internet industry and clamp-down on large internet companies such as Google and Amazon.

“Some platforms can control access to online markets and can exercise significant influence over how various players are remunerated,” the Commission says in its proposal.

Along with its assessment of online platforms, the Commission will also analyse the need for new proposals to tackle illegal content on the Internet, such as introducing more rigorous procedures for removing illegal content it confirmed today.

The European Union has ramped up its oversight of US internet companies in recent years, with its Competition arm opening a number of state-aid cases into US internet companies. Earlier this year the European Commission formally accused Google of abusing its dominance in the internet shopping space and initiated a separate investigation into its Android operating system.

Separately, in the so-called “right to be forgotten” case last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that Google must delete “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant” data from its search results if requested to do so from a member of the public.

As part of the new digital strategy the European Commission has also announced a review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), and plans to bring forward a regulatory proposal next year. This includes a commitment to examine whether changes to the current system of rules concerning broadcast and on-demand services should be adapted.

The arrival of mostly US companies such as Netflix into European markets has put pressure on traditional media companies, and is forcing the European Union to find a delicate balance between meeting the needs of consumers and addressing the concerns of traditional media companies.

A review of copyright law also forms part of the Single Digital Market strategy, with the Commission intending to update the 2001 legislation “to respond to new technologies, consumer behaviour and market conditions.”

Among the main aspects of the copyright modernisation policy is a proposal to allow citizens to use legally-paid for online content purchased in one country in another EU country, increase consumers’ ability to buy online services from other EU member states, and a modernisation of intellectual property enforcement rights. A greater harmonisation of national copyright regimes underpins the new copyright proposal which also aims to facilitate the licensing of rights for online distribution of audiovisual content.

Some of the other consumer measures announced as part of the package include a tightening-up of e-commerce rules to give consumers better protection when shopping online such as more efficient and affordable parcel delivery times.

The proposal for a pan-European telecoms market – an idea that has long been a stated policy priority of the European Union – also forms part of the package.

Announcing the new proposal in Brussels, the EU Commissioner with responsibility for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said the new proposal was both "ambitious and necessary."

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said he hoped to see “every consumer getting the best deals and every business accessing the widest market, wherever they are in Europe.”