Anything that hinders the development of the single digital European market—and the inflow of €260 billion per year—was demanded to be eliminated by the MEPs, approving an extensive proposal, with 384 votes in favor, 174 against and 56 abstentions.
Among other things, the European Parliament decided that «the abuse of the dominant position of online search companies in the market must be avoided», calling on the Commission to examine the unbundling of this activity from other commercial services. The Google holds 90% of the European market in online search, and the Commission has for years been examining complaints about unfair practices.According to the official announcement of the European Parliament, regarding the enforcement of European regulations on online search companies, “the online search market is of particular importance for ensuring competitive conditions in the single digital market and expresses satisfaction with the Commission’s commitments to further investigate the practices of search engines.»Additionally, the resolution calls on the Commission “to prevent any unfair practice in the trade of interconnected services by search engine operators», emphasizing that “impartiality and transparency are required in indexing, evaluation, presentation and classification of content by search engines».Given that search engines “can evolve into access regulators» but also due to their ability “to commercially exploit the secondary use of the information they receive», the MEPs also call on the Commission “to consider proposals for the unbundling of search engines from other commercial services, as a long‑term measure».
The package for telecommunications
Europarliamentarians emphasize that equal treatment in the transmission of data on the internet, without discrimination, restrictions or interference» and call on member states to start negotiations for the telecommunications package, which «will put an end to roaming charges within the EU, will provide greater legal certainty regarding network neutrality, and will improve consumer protection in the digital single market».
Common standards for cloud computing
Europarliamentarians are urging the Commission to take a leading role in promoting international standards and specifications for cloud computing, so that it ensures respect for privacy protection, is reliable and affordable, interoperable, secure, and energy‑efficient.
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