The “digital internal market” is a “digital market” within a defined territorial area in which a free exchange of goods, services, capital and employees is guaranteed under uniform conditions.

The establishment of a “digital domestic market” is a measure of the digital transformation of the economic system “market”, with which in the course of digital change an adaptation of the traditional market structures, which were created in the industrial age, to the conditions of the digital age introduced by the digital revolution is carried out.

Like the term “digital market”, the term “digital domestic market” is used in several meanings.

In the first meaning, the adjective digital refers to the market organisation. A “digital internal market” in this sense can be defined as the matching of supply and demand in a given territory under uniform conditions, based on digital information and communication technologies. In this sense, the term characterizes a market event that unfolds on a digital platform such as a virtual marketplace.

In the second meaning, the adjective digital refers to the market objects. A “digital internal market” in this sense can be defined as a “market” within a defined territorial area in which a free exchange of digital goods, rights and services is guaranteed under uniform conditions.

The constitutive characteristics of a “digital internal market” – like those of a “internal market” in general – are territorial disjunction and uniform legislation based on sovereignty.

Therefore, a “single market” usually extends to the territory of a sovereign entity or alliance of such entities. Accordingly, a “digital internal market” should be defined as the “digital market” within a state or supranational alliance in which a free exchange of goods, services, capital and employees is guaranteed under uniform conditions. The term “digital internal market” is used to define the geographical scope of the general concept of the market, in order to distinguish it from market conditions and transaction modalities beyond territorial borders.

The term “digital internal market” is attracting attention in the public debate, particularly with regard to the development of a single European market for the digital economy planned by the European Union. The creation of a Europe-wide digital internal market is part of the “Digital Agenda for Europe” within the framework of the “Europe 2020” strategy.