The European Commission's new "modern, more European" copyright framework, unveiled today, has ruled out a tax on hyperlinks. But it could still lead to the introduction of a Europe-wide ancillary copyright that would require people to pay a licensing fee for the use of short snippets online. This confirms earlier reports that the EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Günther Oettinger, was "open" to the idea of imposing a "Google tax" on the use of snippets.

On the issue of ancillary copyright, also known as a Google tax, the document detailing the European Commission's plans contains the following comment: "the situation raises questions about whether the current set of rights recognised in EU law is sufficient and well-designed. For news aggregators, in particular, solutions have been attempted in certain Member States, but they carry the risk of more fragmentation in the digital single market."

The "solutions" refer to attempts by Germany and Spain to require search engines—particularly Google—to pay publishers for using snippets from their publications in search results. As Ars reported in July, these have been unmitigated failures, and it's troubling to see the European Commission countenance the idea of extending a Google tax to the whole of the EU on the pretext of addressing "fragmentation" in the digital single market.

The new copyright framework also climbs down on a previous promise to stop the geo-blocking of streaming audio and video. Previously, the Commission said it would "initiate action to put an end to unjustified geo-blocking." Instead, it now wants to bring in new rules on cross-border portability: "Allowing cross-border portability means enabling consumers to use their home online subscription while they stay temporarily abroad. They will also be able to enjoy the legal content, such as films, e-books, music, they have purchased or rented. This is different from cross-border access which means that users, from their home country, access online services available in another Member State. "

The European Commission intends to use a regulation to establish this right to cross-border portability, which means that no further legislation will be needed in the member states to implement it. It is expected to come into force in 2017.

The European Commission says it wants to tackle the lack of consistency across the EU when it comes to copyright exceptions. As it notes: "The fragmentation of copyright rules in the EU is particularly visible in the area of exceptions. The exceptions set out in EU law are, in most cases, optional for Member States to implement and are often broadly defined. As a consequence, an exception in the law of one Member State may not exist in a neighbouring one, or be subject to different conditions or vary in scope."

In its new copyright framework, the European Commission proposes a number of initiatives in this area. These include: finally ratifying the Marrakech Treaty, which allows for the creation and distribution of special formats of print material for people with disabilities, without needing additional licences; permitting "public interest research organisations" to carry out text and data mining of material they have already licensed; and clarifying the scope of an exception for teaching materials.

The Commission also wants to sort out the freedom of panorama issue—the public's ability to take pictures of external objects like buildings and to distribute them without permission of the architect.

Another major aspect addressed in the framework concerns copyright enforcement: "The Commission will take immediate action to engage, with all parties concerned (notably rights holders, service providers, consumers and civil society), in setting up and applying 'follow-the-money' mechanisms. The aim is to disrupt the money trail for commercial-scale intellectual property infringing activities and to make them economically unviable." As part of this, it has launched today a public consultation on the evaluation and modernisation of the legal framework for the enforcement of intellectual monopoly rights such as copyright, open for submissions until 1 April 2016. The European Commission will unveil its next package of measures on reforming copyright in spring 2016.