"Member States must lay foundations for Single Digital Market jointly", says José Ignacio Wert

In his speech, José Ignacio Wert set out Spain's position on various aspects of the European Strategy that affect the scope of his ministerial competencies: intellectual property, developing the audiovisual sector and content platforms.

As regards the first of these, the minister pointed out that "it is necessary for the development of the single digital market" to commit to defending intellectual property that "guarantees creation and innovation, provides fair remuneration to creators and provides transparency", and hence he advocated, "adapting EU legislation on intellectual property issues to help foster research and innovation" in line with the approach of the European Strategy.

As regards the audiovisual sector, José Ignacio Wert remarked that the digital market "must result in improvements in service, accessibility and availability, and maintain the principles that are at the heart of European cultural policy", i.e. principally guaranteeing cultural diversity in Europe.

Finally, he positively assessed the references to the tax treatment of electronic books contained in the strategy, and the possible measures to be studied as regards content platforms, as well as the role played by intermediaries in these platforms.

Bilateral meeting with European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger

The Minister for Education, Culture and Sport also wished to grasp the opportunity offered by his visit to Brussels to hold a bilateral meeting with the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, to draw up a work plan on the European Strategy for a Single Digital Market.

The commissioner underlined the importance of hearing out representatives of all the sectors involved and expressed his total willingness to maintain open dialogue with each of them.