Activities of Ulla TØRNÆS related to 2015/2147(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe
Amendments (25)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that whilst it is impossible to hold back the digital revolution, it is possible to shape its course; digital technologies bring tremendous opportunities for productivity gains, growth and job-creating leading to quality employment; acknowledges the importance of the digital revolution as fuel for enterpreneurship, digital transformation of industry, the development of new business models, ideas and innovative start-ups; stresses that according to the European Commission, The Digital Single Market has the potential to generate Euro 250 billion in additional growth in Europe thereby creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs; stresses that productivity gains historically have resulted in overall employment growth and increased wealth and that the ultimate beneficiary of digital transformation of industry will be the consumer;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to undertake a thorough assessment of the impact which digitalisation will have on the number and types of jobs available and to gather informin cooperation with Member States and consultation with regional and local authorities and the social partners to identify new forms of employment and required skills in the digitally-driven economy and to develop recommendations on new forms of employment, such as crowdsourcing and crowdworkinghow to better match skills and jobs in the digital economy; stresses in this regard the importance of vocational training as a tool proven to increase the match between skills with jobs;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
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Paragraph 4
4. Points out that as job and skills profiles become more complex, new demands are being placed on training, vocational training and further education; emphasises the importance of social dialogue in efforts to bring course content up to date andensure a better match between skills and jobs; is concerned that according to the Commission 47 % of the EU- workforce lack sufficient digital skills and that this skills-shortage might cause up to 900.000 unfilled vacancies until 2020; calls on the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to develop a skills strategies-strategy which can meet this skills-shortage through education for the younger part of the population, vocational training, exchange of best practices and through training in partnership with the social partners for the older part of the population;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
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Paragraph 4
4. PNotes that the demand for digitally skilled employees is growing by around 4% per year and that shortages of ICT professionals in the EU could exceed 800,000 by 2020 if no decisive action is taken; points out that as job and skills profiles become more complex, new demands are being placed on training and further education; emphasises the importance of social dialogue in efforts to bring course content up to date and develop skills strategies;
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
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Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the establishment of the Europe-wide grand coalition for digital jobs, and encourages businesses to jointhe social partners' active participation with the aim of realizing the potential of the digital economy to create growth and new jobs leading to quality employment; encourages the Europe-wide grand coalition for digital jobs to develop recommendations for new forms of learning, i.e. online learning, employer- designed short-courses etc., to keep pace with the evolving digital technology and changes; encourages additionally educational institutions to respond to the opportunities in the digital economy by developing flexible learning profiles including enhanced opportunities for vocational training which match the demands of the labour market;
Amendment 130 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Points out that the digitalisation-driven trend towards more flexible working practices may also give rise to precarious of the economy may give rise to new and flexible forms of employment to which the current standards as regards social security, working time, working location, worker participation andlegislative and non-legislative employment protectionframework no longer applycorrespond; calls for self-employed persons with quasi-employee status to be placed an assessment on how to modernise employment legislation to these new conditions and equal footing with employed persons under employment lawncourages the social partners to modernise collective agreements accordingly;
Amendment 159 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that freedom of association must apply in the context of new forms of employmentis a fundamental freedom that must apply in all sectors in all parts of the EU;
Amendment 168 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the need to develop employee data protection measures whichat the Digital Single Market and EU privacy and data regulations should provide a covher new forms of data collection (relations between humans and robots)ent and stable framework to facilitate innovation, trade and entrepreneurship while ensuring adequate protection of data;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes that free and effective competition, which gives consumers more choice and lower prices, must be the foundation of the digital economy; supports the Commission's plan to ensure its competition policy fully applies to the digital single market, including through sector inquiries such as the one currently undertaken into e-commerce;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Underlines that the primary objective of the Strategy must be the creation of a true digital single market free of barriers and not an occasion to create new ones through new regulation whose absolute necessity would have not been proven;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the urgent need for the Commission and Member States to promote a more dynamic economy for innovation to flourish and for companies to scale up, through the development of e- government, a modernised regulatory framework fit for the emergence and scale- up of innovative businesses, improved access to finance for start-ups and SMEs, and a long term investment strategy in infrastructure, skills, research and innovation;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with Member States, to further develop initiatives to boost entrepreneurship that range from changing the mind-set on how success is defined to promoting an entrepreneurial and innovation culture, including business model innovation; believes, in addition, that the diversity and specific attributes of the different national innovation hubs could be turned into a real competitive advantage for the EU if they are effectively interconnected;
Amendment 368 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Commission’'s initiative to improve theconsumers' legal protection of consumers as regards intangible digital contentconcerning intangible digital content, which should carefully analyse the differences between digital goods and services and tangible goods and the sometimes complex environment in which they operate; points out that while consumers buying tangible digital content are protected by consumer protection laws, consumer rights when buying intangible digital content remain largely unregulated; agrees that consumers should enjoy a comparable level of protection regardless of whether they purchase digital content online or offline;
Amendment 399 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the importance for consumers to be better informed of the use of their data, in particular in the case of free services;
Amendment 421 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that a full harmonisation of the legal framework governing online sales irrespective of whether they are cross- border or domestic sales, while maintaining the coherence of online and offline rules regarding legal remedies, constitutes the most practical and proportionate approach;
Amendment 434 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that there is a risk that the Commission’s proposals entail a growing disparity between the applicable legal standards for offline and online purchasesWelcomes the Commission's commitments to adopt a strong proposal on digital contracts covering both tangible and intangible goods and services sold online; stresses the need to adopt clear and understandable rules which can be easily applied by consumers and businesses alike;
Amendment 495 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Considers that the Commission should be more proactive in identifying sectors with high potential for cross border trade and digitalisation and where the mutual recognition principle could apply; asks the Commission to make a list of the top ten regulations in each Member State which impede competition in the DSM;
Amendment 566 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers that ambitious actions are needed to improve access to legal digital content,goods and services sold online by in particular by ending geo- blocking practices and unfair price discrimination based on geographical location; calls on the Commission to investigate the practice of price discrimination and market segmentation and for the Commission to act against unethical, unfair or illegal business practices including on price discrimination where location, language, or nationality are used as factures;
Amendment 587 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission to adopt a single regulation on geo-blocking, which would complement the e-commerce directive and give guidance as what is an unfair and illegal practice;
Amendment 625 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Believes that the removal of unjustified geo-blocking for goods and services in the marketplace should not prevent the Member States from justified geo-blocking where required by national law to enforce, among others, the prevention of non-IPR related criminal actions, the display and sharing of sexually abusive images and representations, and the spreading of hate speech and hate symbols; calls on the Commission and the Council to adopt clear guidelines on what is a justifiable reason to geo-block;
Amendment 687 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Stresses the importance of a successful implementation of EFSI in targeting projects with higher-risk profiles to maximise investments in digital infrastructure and better attract private investments for innovative companies; a particular focus should be given to information and support of innovative entrepreneurs, at the different funding stages of development of the company;
Amendment 723 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses that since the development of over-the-top services has increased demand and competition among services to the benefit of consumers, modernisation of the telecommunication framework should not lead to more regulatory burdens, but should drive innovation and fair competition and ensure fair access to the networks;
Amendment 858 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Appreciates the Commission’s initiative to analyse the role of platforms in the Digital Economy as part of the upcoming Internal Market StrategyDigital Single Market Strategy that should aim at identifying specific and defined problems within specific business areas; Stresses that taking a "one size fits all" approach in light of the diversity of platforms, and the growth potential in particular of B2B platforms, could seriously impede innovation;
Amendment 890 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Encourages the Commission to analyse the need to protect consumers in the sharing economy and, wheby assessing where initiatives are appropriate and if necessary, to come forward with proposals to ensure thean adequacyte level of the consumer-related legislation framework protection in the digital sphere, including in cases of possible abuses, and where ex- post remedies, and not ex-ante regulation, are sufficient or more effective;
Amendment 899 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Notes that platforms and the sharing economy are based on reputation and trust and subject to consent user reviews and evaluations; believes that it is in the only self-interest for platforms to adopt measures to prevent fraud, scams, sale of illegal tangible and intangible goods and misleading advertising or claims, knowing that a failure to do so will lead consumers to stop using the service; asks the Commission to set up a stakeholder group in charge of promoting best practices in the sector;