Increased consumer awareness and concern about how personal data is being used. There is regulatory uncertainty for European businesses that handle personal data, which potentially puts them at a disadvantage compared to, say, US companies who operate within a much more relaxed legal landscape.

Insufficient access to finance for media start-ups and SMEs . While it is relatively easy to start a new company producing apps, games, or social networks, it is much harder to scale up without committed investors.

The labour market across Europe is not providing enough data professionals able to manipulate big data applications, e.g. for data journalism and product management.

Fear of piracy and consumer disregard for copyright may disincentive creative people and companies from taking risks to launch new media and cultural products and services.

Large US players dominate the content and data industry. Companies such as Apple , Amazon , and Google between them have huge dominance in many sub-sectors including music, advertising, publishing, and consumer media electronics.

Differences in penetration of high-speed broadband provision across member countries, in cities, and in rural areas. This is a disincentive for companies looking to deliver content that requires high bandwidth, e.g. streaming movies, as it reduces the potential customer base.