Page 55 - ASEAN-EU Dialogue 2018: Regional and Inter-Regional Economic Cooperation: Identifying Priorities for ASEAN and the EU

In September 2016, two proposals were fronted to the EU Commission which was reforming
copyright rules which will guarantee fair remuneration for journalists, publishers and authors
and reinforce their position to negotiate for their creative content, while boosting consumers’
choice to content online and across borders. Another was an update of European audio-visual
media services rules will create a fairer environment for all, promote European films, protect
children and better tackle hate speech online. Correlating to that, the same time last year there
was a call for the enhancement of European Cyber Security through the formation of a
European Cyber-Security Agency to assist Member States in dealing with cyber-attacks, as
well as a new European certification scheme that will ensure that digital products and services
are safe to use. Boosting E-Commerce in the EU is one form of action that the EU Commission
have taken rather dynamic steps in. Earlier in December 2015, it was called for that there should
be a modernisation of EU contract rules that would encourage consumers to shop online, as
well as businesses to expand without the fear of costing. The following year saw a proposal for
regulations on geo-blocking that was proposed to ensure that consumers no longer face
unjustified barriers such as being re-routed back to a country-specific website, or asked to pay
with a debit or credit card from a certain country. It also saw a revising on parcel delivery for
cross-border destinations. The complication this move wanted to address was a situation where
sending send a parcel from the Netherlands to Spain would cost currently €13, while to do the
same thing in reverse would cost €32.74. Apart from that, in 2016, there was an assertive push
that EU Member-states should soon agree on our Value Added Tax (VAT) for e-commerce
proposals to allow consumers and companies to buy and sell goods and services easily online.
Once agreed by all Member States, the new set-up for VAT rates on e-publications would allow
Member States to align the rates on e-publications to those on printed publications ensuring a
level-playing field for both products.

Challenging in Embodying the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Despite an assertive push by governments within the EU that behoves them to up their wits in
coping with the technological times, the challenges that act as a stumbling block towards
achieving this vision of a digitalised Europe must be recognised and strategically resolved to
ensure smoothness in this transition. For instance, many barriers still impede the free flow of
cross-border data within the European economy; only 15% of EU consumers buy online from
another EU country, whereas nearly 50% do so domestically, according to the EU Commission.
This may stem from the fear of data theft and manipulation, as well as the fear of having
individual cyber security compromised. Threats such as these, topped by the existence of the
dark web, a coveted layer of the internet where users of this platform are anonymous and set
themselves as untraceable make for rather petrifying possibilities. It must be considered that a
digital single market could double the ratio of cross border to national digital trade of goods
and services. Digital cross-border flows beyond e-commerce could also increase as companies
take advantage of the single market scale. While this is seen as a favourable paradigm, it also
translates into higher standards of competency that businesses would need to keep up with to
ensure their market survival. It would be a burden on EU member countries to see
establishments closing their doors due to the inability to align their own with the wave of
digitalisation, which may appear as costly in its earlier stages of bloom. While we’ve centred
the EU as the base of discussion, we cannot downplay the prospects of competitors diving into
IR 4.0 and the possibility of nations such as the United States and China surpassing the regional
bloc in terms of investment, policy craft, and digital infrastructure development. With Europe
aiming to be the digital hub of the world, it would need to be maximising efforts and
strategically immobilising the commitment of member states in stepping on the gas to win the
rat race. All in all, we see so much possibility in growth trajectory moving in a positive
direction when countries take up the call to digitalise the construct of their life quality,

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