The European Commission’s half-finished digitalization strategy: a critical assessment by UNI Europa
"The digital future is already here - the digitalisation of Europe is exciting but carries with it challenges as well as opportunities. Europe needs to respond quickly to this development to ensure that it leads to economic growth, quality jobs, a skilled workforce and social justice.The Europe...
| Institution: | ETUI-European Trade Union Institute |
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| Format: | TEXT |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Brussels
2015
UNI-Europa |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19107193124919253759-The-european-Commission’s-half.htm |
| Summary: | "The digital future is already here - the digitalisation of Europe is exciting but carries with it challenges as well as opportunities. Europe needs to respond quickly to this development to ensure that it leads to economic growth, quality jobs, a skilled workforce and social justice.The European Commission has responded to digital development with the Digital Single Market Package (the DSM Package) and with it hopes to ensure the proper functioning of the single market by facilitating digitalisation and addressing challenges like geo-blocking, EU copyright and telecom rules, and high costs of parcel delivery in Europe.Although UNI Europa welcomes the Commission’s effort to respond to digital development, it finds the Commission’s approach too narrow and consumer-focused and lacking in emphasis on how this development affects workers, industries and services.
UNI Europa calls on the Commission to ensure a broader focus in its digital agenda, in order that it empowers European citizens, fosters cohesion and is inclusive of the needs, rights and ambitions of all Europeans.While new possibilities, in terms of better information and communication, more productivity, economic growth and smart services, are promising, there is also a dark side to digitalisation which can negatively impact European citizens and industries. We need to make sure further digitalisation isn’t coupled with wage dumping, mass redundancies, excessively dominant online platforms (including sharing economy portals), precarious working conditions, a rise in atypical employment and the invasion of employee privacy (personal data). ..." |
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| Physical Description: | 15 p. Digital |