Labour MEP discusses digital single market with UK

Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi was one of six MEPs from the S&D Digital Europe Working Group who visited London for negotiations with the British government, trade unions, and business different aspects on the Digital Single Market.

At meetings with members of the House of Lords, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Disney and others, the core group discussed the importance of the digital single market and the potential to Europe.  

 "It is important to understand that individual countries cannot influence Silicon Valley on its own and we need the EU to ensure that different policy measures adopted at national and European level are coordinated to complement each other so that we are able to develop our own European tech 'unicorns' like Google," Mizzi commented after the visit.

“The fact-finding mission was fascinating because it confirmed that the existing ways of policymaking at national and European level no longer fit digital innovations.  In the UK, the British Government has set up a digital platform - Digital Government Services - which provides citizens and business with content on public sector innovation, open data, courses on skills and entrepreneurship, and a secure financing platform which includes easy to use e-identification applications.

 "There is a huge skills mismatch not only in the UK but also in Europe, which needs to be urgently addresses. As the S&D spokesperson on skills mismatch and job opportunities for the CULT Committee, as well as a member of the  Digital Working Group of the EP, I stressed the key role of education both at school and lifelong learning for the future of the Digital Single Market in Europe.”