In a report that highlights the strong progress made since 2005, the European Commission called on the digital sector to be used to stimulate growth sustainably in Europe.
The report on digital competitiveness takes stock of European policy in this area over the last five years, as the "i2010" strategy nears its end. This strategy, which was to confirm Europe's dominant position in the area of information and communication technology and unlock the benefits of the information society for European growth and jobs, has, the report says, been a great success.
Fifty-six per cent of Europeans now use the internet regularly, a rise of one third since 2004 and half of households and 80 per cent of businesses have a broadband connection compared with only one third in 2004. Europe is thus the world's broadband leader. It is also the first genuinely wireless continent, with the number of subscribers to mobile telephone networks greater than the number of citizens with a take up rate of 119 per cent.
According to the report, 16 to 24 year-olds are the most active internet users: 73 per cent of them regularly use advanced services to create and share online content, twice the EU population average (35 per cent).
Sixty-six per cent of all Europeans under 24 use the internet every day, compared to the EU average of 43 per cent. Although the "digital generation" that has mastered the web and is ready to make use of the latest innovations seems reluctant to pay to download or view online content like videos or music (33 per cent say that they are not willing to pay anything at all, which is twice the EU average), in reality twice as many of them have paid for these services compared to the rest of the population (10 per cent of young users, compared to an EU average of 5 per cent).
They are also more willing to pay for offers of better service and quality. As Europe's "digital natives" begin their professional lives, internet use will soar, increasingly shaping and dominating market trends. Companies will have to offer services attractive to the next generation of users, while legislators should create the right conditions to facilitate access to new online content while also ensuring remuneration for the creators.
The Commission said that Europe also needs to act more to compete globally, since, despite progress, a third of EU citizens have never used the internet, and only seven per cent of consumers have shopped online in another member state. Europe still lags behind the US and Japan in research and development investment in ICT, high-speed broadband communications, and developing innovative markets like online advertising.
"Europe's digital economy has tremendous potential to generate huge revenues across all sectors, but to turn this advantage into sustainable growth and new jobs, governments must show leadership by adopting coordinated policies that dismantle existing barriers to new services," said European Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding in a press statement.
"We should seize the opportunity of a new generation of Europeans who will soon be calling the shots in the European market place," she said, calling for access to digital content to be "an easy and fair game" so that "digital natives" can fully express themselves.