The vice president for the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda for Europe, Neelie Kroes, has issued a call for the formation of a single EU telecoms market before the next European election. The European Commissioner voiced her intent to oversee the reform of the EU telecoms market by Easter 2014, claiming that it would be good for Europe’s economy.

The European Commission has released details of a cloud computing strategy that it claims will create 2.5 million jobs and boost EU GDP to the tune of €160bn annually by 2020. The Commission’s plan for “Unleashing the potential for cloud computing in Europe” is intended to speed the uptake of cloud services in the region, according to Neelie Kroes, EU vice president for the digital agenda.

An extensive new report from the European Commission has found that EU citizens, businesses and innovators are generating enough demand for digital products and services, but are being let down by insufficient investment in information and communication technologies (ICT).

Neelie Kroes is the vice president of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda and is delivering the opening keynote speech of the Broadband World Forum 2012, taking place on the 16 – 18 October 2012 at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We take a look at the nature of her role and the industry topics with which she is closely associated.

The European Commission is considering an investigation into major European operators over charges of possible collusion.

According to reports, the alleged collusion began in 2010 between executives from Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone. It is understood that one of the main topics was the threat of competition from Google and Apple.

The European Parliament and the EU’s Council of Ministers is considering a proposal from the European Commission for an ambitious project, worth up to €100bn ($140bn), to fund the rollout of fibre broadband and associated services across the EU.