How to achieve a free market for digital services in the EU?

This week I had the privilege of attending an EU conference - A Digital Single Market by 2015 - organized by the Danish Presidency. Over two days, problem areas and proposals for action were discussed, all aimed at achieving a single European market for digital services as good as we have today for goods and services.
Everyone agrees that increased digital development within and between countries is a prerequisite for economic growth in the EU.

But what is the problem? The different regulatory systems in the 27 Member States are a key component. Just think of the problem with the double VAT that Stardoll had to pay, think of Voddler having to negotiate with 27 copyright organizations to sell movie services online, and think of all the e-commerce companies that may face various different rules regarding payment system requirements or requirements for establishment in the respective country, in order to sell online.

Lack of IT knowledge and innovation capacity is another problem area. The speakers have a number of suggestions for action: make public data available for innovation, ensure a uniform copyright, common rules for cloud services, so that there are not a number of national clouds, give up more radio spectrum, etc, etc. It almost seemed as if these are excluded from the common internal market and are probably seen as completely national services in many countries. On the contrary to what I think - this is a great upcoming export opportunity.

An EU conference gives you a different perspective on Sweden and our situation. When you hear that one in four citizens in Europe has not used the internet, you realize what a difference it is and how low these issues are probably prioritized in many countries. Sweden and Swedish companies are mentioned in every seminar session and, judging by the speakers, Spotify and Skype are the only "successful" examples of innovation in Europe. A bit worrying, one might think.

And finally, by 2015, the EU will be 700,000 IT graduates short. What are we really doing? - We have gigantic youth unemployment!

Follow the link to read a summary of the conference message http://eu2012.dk/en/NewsList/Februar/Week-9/Digital-data