Boosting growth through the online economy, telecoms and innovation
The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso has this afternoon written to Heads of State and Government to set out how Europe can get more out of the online economy to boost growth and jobs. President Barroso states that "Digital services and telecommunications are crucial drivers of growth and productivity across all sectors of our economies. However, we are not getting the most out of the potential for our single market in telecommunications and online and in these industries the EU is losing ground to our international partners".
The October European Council will devote time to the contribution that innovation, the digital single market and services can provide to Europe's recovery from the crisis; President Barroso has sent a copy of the Commission report on the digital economy. He urges Heads of State and Government to reach agreement swiftly on the proposals on the table on high-speed broadband, electronic invoicing in public procurement, electronic identification; payment services, copyright and e-commerce. He also stresses that the EU's data protection rules are essential for citizens and businesses confidence and must be adopted before the end of the parliamentary term.
President Barroso underlines that investment in R&D is crucial for growth, competitiveness and job creation as Europe still lags behind its international competitors. In the letter, he states that "…we need to accelerate the critical and structural reforms of our national research and innovation systems to achieve our aims for a European Research Area". The Commission has finalised work on an innovation indicator to help measure our performance and launch the discussion at the October European Council.
Read President Barroso's letter to the Heads of State and Government 
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