Secretary Pritzker Talks Digital Economy and Innovation with EU

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker traveled to Brussels, where she engaged European Union leaders in discussions on the transatlantic digital economy. This visit followed the EU’s May announcement of an ambitious set of reforms to tackle internal barriers to e-commerce and online services and foster growth in the continent’s digital economy.

While turning the May announcement into concrete policy will take time, the resultant “Digital Single Market” (DSM) could create significant benefits for Europe’s consumers and businesses, as well as for the many U.S. companies that have long invested there. While in Brussels, Secretary Pritzker voiced her support for the overall goals of the DSM initiative and the promise of a more integrated European digital market.

The Secretary also emphasized the importance of Europe’s digital single market developing as part of an open and vibrant transatlantic Internet ecosystem. To be truly effective, the DSM must remove the barriers that make it hard for European entrepreneurs to achieve scale across the continent, while allowing established European and U.S. firms to continue delivering innovative services for local SMEs and consumers. In meetings with Secretary Pritzker, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip and Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther Oettinger both affirmed the importance of continued market openness. Secretary Pritzker also took the opportunity to meet with Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment, and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen and Commissioner for Justice, Consumers, and Gender Equality Věra Jourová.

More broadly, to drive lasting growth in the digital economy, governments must enable entrepreneurs to bring their ideas from lab to market, access needed capital, and sell their products in markets around Europe, the United States, and the world – goals to which both the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce are dedicated. Creating this enabling environment for technology-driven growth is a daily focus at the Commerce Department, “America’s Innovation Agency.”

In light of the many shared objectives and values, Secretary Pritzker is committed to working jointly with EU counterparts on the digital issues shaping our modern, interdependent economies. Like the officials with whom she met, the Secretary looks forward to this sustained engagement as both parties navigate the opportunities of the digital economy together.