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David Lidington

Minister for Europe, London

Part of FCDO Outreach

8th February 2012 London, UK

Completing the Digital Single Market

Completing the digital single market

It is unbelievable that in a 21st century Europe there are still barriers to online transactions between EU Member States. Over 40% of Europeans buy goods online but less than 1 in 10 of us have bought something online from a trader in another EU country.

Completing the digital single market

It astounds me to see that there are still some European households who today either do not have access to the internet or have access to very slow connection speeds. For example, in Spain and Italy more than 30% of the population have never used the internet before. Whilst in Poland only 40% of the population have access to an internet connection speed above 2 megabit per second – at which speed it takes almost an hour to download a film.

The UK Government is working with others to do something about this. We want the EU to complete its Digital Single Market. This involves simplifying the rules governing businesses and consumers who engage in online transactions, improving internet infrastructure to make surfing quicker as well as increasing online security to protect consumers.

The economic benefits accrued across the EU, once all these measures have been implemented will be significant. Consumers will have more choice, competition will increase and prices will fall. Businesses will have a larger consumer base to target, sell more and increase revenue. Completing the Digital Single Market will add on average about £3,500 to each EU household and boost economic activity across the region.

About David Lidington

David Lidington MP was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on 14 May 2010. David Lidington was elected to Parliament in 1992 and is the Member…

David Lidington MP was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on 14 May 2010.
David Lidington was elected to Parliament in 1992 and is the Member of Parliament for Aylesbury.
He worked for BP and RTZ before spending three years as Special Advisor to Douglas Hurd in the Home Office and Foreign Office.
His proudest political achievement was successfully promoting a
Private Members Bill which became the Chiropractors Act in 1994. He
believes that this piece of legislation has made a real difference to
many people’s lives.
He has a long standing passion for history, and has twice captained a
champion team on University Challenge, first in 1979 and then in 2002
when the Sidney Sussex team became “champion of champions” in University
Challenge Reunited.
He is married to Helen Lidington and has four sons.