There remain diverging rules governing consumer and investor protection (contractual and non-contractual) and thus fragmented markets persist, depriving European consumers of the benefits of increased choice, more competitive prices and economies of scale.

While this is becoming acute in relation to some sectors employing the highly skilled who are essential to the development of a knowledge-based economy, shortages in the traditional low-skilled areas, such as agriculture and tourism, are continuing even where there are high levels of unemployment in spite of the efforts being made to combat this phenomena.

Recent studies indicate that the opportunities for energy savings still remain significant, as shown in Figure 1[7].

Points out that the gender pay and career development gap remains for women working in the ICT sector; stresses that the principle of equal pay for equal work in the same workplace to ensure just and fair wages is being challenged, even though it constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of social justice in the labour market and should therefore be protected above all else; reiterates that inequalities should not be allowed to take root in the digital economy as regards equal pay and career development; stresses that increased participation of women in the labour market and related investments in social inclusion policies will help ...[+++]to reduce the gender pay gap; highlights the importance of collective bargaining also in the digital market economy in order to safeguard quality and security of jobs in times of digitalisation.