COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementation of the Digital Decade objectives and the Digital Rights and Principles Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Report on the state of the Digital Decade 2023
Date: 2023-09-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, digital literacy, digital single market, digital transformation, digitisation, information security, innovation, public service, technological change, transmission network

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 27.9.2023  SWD(2023) 570 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementation of the Digital Decade objectives and the Digital Rights and Principles Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Report on the state of the Digital Decade 2023 {COM(2023) 570 final} - {SWD(2023) 571 final} - {SWD(2023) 572 final} - {SWD(2023) 573 final} - {SWD(2023) 574 final}  
 
 
Contents 
1 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 

2 

General objectives and the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles ....................................... 4 

2.1  Monitoring the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles ................................................... 4 

2.1.1 

2.1.2 

2.1.3 

2.1.4 

2.1.5 

2.1.6 

2.1.7 

2.1.8 

Methodology and vision for the next reports .............................................................. 5 

Digital rights and principles - results of Eurobarometer survey ................................... 5 

Chapter I: Putting people at the centre of the digital transformation ......................... 6 

Chapter II: Solidarity and inclusion ............................................................................... 7 

Chapter III: Freedom of choice ................................................................................... 15 

Chapter IV: Participation in the digital public space .................................................. 19 

Chapter V: Safety, security and empowerment ......................................................... 24 

Chapter VI: Sustainability ........................................................................................... 29 

2.2  Digital Decade objectives: sovereignty, resilience and competitiveness ............................... 30 

2.2.1 

2.2.2 

2.2.3 

2.2.4 

Technological leadership to support EU’s future digital transformation ................... 32 

Strengthening EU’s digital ecosystem resilience ........................................................ 35 

Focus on 6 key digital sectors for EU’s sovereignty and competitiveness ................. 39 

Cybersecurity .............................................................................................................. 47 

2.3  Twinning the digital and green transition .............................................................................. 49 

2.3.1 

2.3.2 

2.3.3 

2.3.4 

2.3.5 

The pathfinder role of the cloud/edge computing sector.......................................... 52 

The net environmental effect of Artificial Intelligence .............................................. 54 

Linking digital and green through smart investments................................................ 55 

A digital project for the environment: Destination Earth (DestinE) ........................... 56 

Common European Green Deal Data Space ............................................................... 57 

2.3.6  Way forward ............................................................................................................... 57 

3 

Linking the Digital Decade with EU cities, communities and regions ........................................... 58 

3.1  Contributing to the Digital Decade at local level: The Living-in.EU movement ..................... 59 

3.2  Local Digital twins/CitiVerse/New European Bauhaus .......................................................... 61 

3.3  Smart communities ecosystem interoperability and AI ......................................................... 62 

3.4  A common project at EU level for local communities ............................................................ 62 

4 

The external dimension of the Digital Decade .............................................................................. 64 

4.1  Trade and Technology Councils and Digital Partnerships with like-minded countries .......... 64 

4.2  Regional alliances ................................................................................................................... 65 

4.3  Digital Dialogues ..................................................................................................................... 65 

4.4  EU candidate and pre candidate countries ............................................................................ 66 

4.5  Multilateral cooperation ........................................................................................................ 67 

4.6  Global Gateway ...................................................................................................................... 68 

4.7  Digital Diplomacy .................................................................................................................... 68 

5 

Delivering the Digital Decade with EU investments ...................................................................... 69 

5.1  EU funding programmes contributing to the Digital Decade ................................................. 69 

5.2  Focus: the RRF contribution to the Digital Decade ................................................................ 74 

5.3  Investments needed to achieve Digital Decade targets ......................................................... 76 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6 

Delivering the Digital Decade through policies ............................................................................. 79 

2 

 
 
 
1  Introduction 

The  Digital  Decade  Policy  Programme  20301  is  the  new  framework  guiding  Europe's  digital 
transformation.  The  policy  programme  establishes  digital  targets  and  objectives  to  be  pursued 
through a cooperation cycle with Member States.  

To  complement  the  State  of  the  Digital  Decade  report  which  measures  progress  annually  at  EU 
level  on  all  aspects  of  the  Digital  Decade,  this  Staff  Working  Document  (SWD)  analyses  in  more 
detail  Europe’s  advancement  towards  the  Digital  Decade  objectives  and  the  implementation  of 
Digital Rights and Principles. The SWD’s analysis is based among others on existing studies as well 
as consultation activities, notably in the context of the FUTURIUM community set up for the Digital 
Decade. 

Chapter 2 presents a horizontal analysis of the challenges and progress made with regards to the 
general  objectives  set  out  in  the  policy  programme  and  the  commitments  made  in  the 
Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for empowering people and the society, as well as on a 
specific focus on resilience and sovereignty and environmental sustainability.  

Chapter  3  highlights  the  potential  of  the  Digital  Decade  for  regions  and  municipalities  and  the 
role that they can play in delivering digital Decade objectives and targets. 

Chapter 4 sketches out the external dimension of the Digital Decade with main actions taken at 
international level. 

Chapter  5  presents  an  outlook  of  the  EU  budgets  and  programmes  contributing  to  the  Digital 
Decade  objectives  and  targets,  including  actions  taken  and  planned  under  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience Facility (RRF). 

Chapter 6 provides an overview of which key EU policy actions taken since 2020 are contributing 
to the Digital Decade and how they are progressing. 

1 DECISION (EU) 2022/2481 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 December 2022 
establishing the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 

3 

 
 
 
2  General  objectives  and  the  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and 

Principles 

This chapter presents an analysis of the challenges and progress made with a specific focus on the 
implementation  of  the  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and  Principles  including  the  objectives  that 
relate  to  empowering  people  and  the  society,  resilience  and  sovereignty  and  environmental 
sustainability.  It  complements  the  analysis  of  progress  towards  the  Digital  Decade  targets 
presented  in  the  cardinal  point  thematic  reports,  which  also  contribute  to  implementing  and 
promoting the objectives and principles.  

Successfully  managing  the  digital  transition  and  taking  advantage  of  its  long-term  benefits  goes 
beyond technology innovation, development, and adoption. Achieving a digital transformation that 
enables the EU to become truly sovereign,  resilient, and competitive as well as more  sustainable 
will  require  the  strong  and  long-lasting  support  of  the  European  people  for  conducting  the 
necessary  reforms  and  policy  actions.  The  digital  transformation  significantly  affects  all  areas  of 
people’s  lives  bringing  many  benefits  but  also  raising  challenges2.  The  current  geopolitical  and 
economic context as well as disinformation or digital divide illustrate that it is particularly relevant 
to put people at the centre of this transformation so that they can fully benefit from more jobs and 
prosperity and a better quality of life for all. It is therefore critical that digital technologies benefits 
are accessible to all and everywhere, contribute to reducing divides, benefit consumers and ensure 
that EU’s values are at the centre of our digital future. 

2.1  Monitoring the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles  

The  European  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and  Principles  for  the  Digital  Decade3  proposes  a 
vision  and  concrete  commitments  for  how  rights  and  freedoms  enshrined  in  the  EU's  legal 
framework as well as European values translate into a digitally transformed world. It was signed in 
December  2022  with  the  aim  to  give  everyone  a  clear  reference  point  about  the  type  of  digital 
transformation the EU would envisage. It also provides a guide for policy makers and companies 
when dealing with digital technologies, measures, and policies. 

As explained in the Declaration, the EU wants to secure European values by putting people at the 
centre  of  the  digital  transformation;  supporting  solidarity  and  inclusion  through  connectivity, 
digital education, training and skills, as well as fair and just working conditions and access to digital 
public services; ensuring freedom of choice and a fair digital environment; fostering participation in 
the digital public space; increasing safety, security and empowerment in the digital environment, in 
particular for young people; and promoting sustainability. 

While the Declaration has a declaratory nature and, as such, does not affect the content of legal 
rules  or  their  application  its  political  importance  should  not  be  underestimated.  It  was  signed  at 
the highest level of the European Union and the signatories have acknowledged that its promotion 
and implementation are a shared commitment and responsibility of the EU and its Member States. 
Moreover,  the  Digital  Decade  Policy  Programme  provides  that  Member  States  and  the 
Commission must take the digital rights and principles set out in the European Declaration  into 
account  when  cooperating  to  achieve  the  general  objectives  of  the  Digital  Decade  Policy 
Programme.  

2 Millard, J., Impact of digital transformation on public governance, Manzoni, M. and Schade, S. editor(s), 
Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023, doi:10.2760/204686, 
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC133975. 
3 European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade 2023/C 23/01, PUB/2023/89, OJ 
C 23, 23.1.2023, p. 1–7 

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As  the  EU  enters  its  first  cooperation  cycle  to  achieve  the  2030  on  digital  skills,  digital 
infrastructures, and digitalisation of businesses and public services, it is important to also measure 
progress on the promotion and the implementation of the digital rights and principles. 

Given  the  strong  links  that  exist  between  the  Declaration  and  the  general  objective  of 
strengthening digital citizenship - empowering people and the wider society - both are analysed in 
this chapter within the appropriate Declaration chapter headings. 

2.1.1  Methodology and vision for the next reports  

The  Commission  has  committed  to  regularly  report  to  the  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the 
progress made in promoting and implementing the Declaration. While it may be too early to report 
on  progress  a  few  months  thoroughly  and  systematically  after  the  Declaration  was  signed,  this 
annex  provides  some  useful  findings  outlining  what  has  been  done  in  the  areas  covered  in  the 
Declaration since 2020 - the start of the Digital Decade. 

The  findings  below  draw  on  various  sources,  including  the  Digital  Economy  and  Society  Index 
(DESI);  Member  States’  replies  to  the  Digital  Decade  fact-finding  questionnaires;  feedback  from 
stakeholders;  the  2023  Report  on  the  monitoring  of  the  Berlin  Declaration;  existing  reports  and 
studies on the implementation of EU legislation and policies, such as the Media Pluralism Monitor, 
GDPR, and the Better Internet for Kids annual report.  

Moreover,  the  2023  Special  Eurobarometer  Report  on  the  Digital  decade  gives  an  insight  into 
people’s perceptions regarding digital rights and principles.  

It  is  against  this  baseline  that  the  Commission  intends  to  measure  the  progress  made  in  the 
promotion and the implementation of the Declaration in the coming years. To this end, data gaps 
identified  in  this  year’s  exercise,  e.g.,  in  the  area  of security  and  workers’  rights,  will  have  to  be 
filled. Moreover, only a few Member States have reported on digital principles in their replies to 
the fact-finding questionnaires. Member States are invited to provide more information in their 
national  roadmaps,  as  the  implementation of  the  Declaration  is  a  responsibility  shared  between 
the  EU  and  the  Member  States.  In  addition,  richer  input  will  be  gathered  from  stakeholders, 
including industry and civil society, and the Commission services have the intention to commission 
a study to support monitoring. 

2.1.2  Digital rights and principles - results of Eurobarometer survey 

It  is  early  to  draw  firm  lessons  on  the  progress  in  the  promotion  and  implementation  of  the 
European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles signed in December 2022. Nevertheless, the 
Special  Eurobarometer  Survey  conducted  earlier  this  year  shows  that  there  is  no  room  for 
complacency:  although  variations  may  exist  at  national  level,  only  half  (50%)  of  Europeans 
consider  that  digital  rights  are  well  protected  in  Europe,  while  over  one  in  three  (36%)  think 
more needs to be done. At the same time, four in ten Europeans (41%) are not aware that their 
rights that apply offline should also be respected online. There are notable differences between 
Member States in this regard. While more than eight in ten citizens in Luxembourg (84%), Slovenia 
(83%),  and  Denmark  (82%)  are  aware  that  their  rights  should  also  be  respected  online,  the 
awareness  seems  much  lower  in  Bulgaria  (34%),  Romania  (39%),  and  Italy  (40%).  Greater 
awareness across Member States would impact how people exercise and claim their rights online - 
likely adding to the over one in three Europeans (36%) who think more needs to be done to protect 
digital rights in Europe. 

Looking  more  specifically  at  the  various  chapters  of  the  Declaration,  more  than  half  of  the 
respondents (56%) are of the opinion that getting basic and advanced digital education, training, 
and skills is well protected in their in their country, with the same proportion thinking the same 
about  getting  access  to  safe  and  privacy-friendly  digital  technologies.  A  clear  majority  (60%)  of 

5 

 
 
 
 
Europeans  think  that  freedom  of  assembly  and  of  association  are  well  protected  in  the  digital 
environment. 

Furthermore,  values  of  solidarity  and  inclusion  appear  to  be  relatively  well  reflected  in  digital 
policies.  A  slight  majority  of  Europeans  thinks  that  the  following  rights  and  principles  are  well 
protected:  getting  easy  online  access  to  all  key  public  services  in  the  EU  (54%),  affordable 
high‑speed  internet  connections  for  everyone  (53%),  access  to  a  trustworthy,  diverse  and 
multilingual  digital  environment  (52%),  fair  and  healthy  working  conditions  in  the  digital 
environment, and online privacy and getting access to the right information on the environmental 
impact and energy consumption of digital technologies (both 51%). 

In  contrast,  less  than  half  (48%)  of  Europeans  think  that  digital  products  and  services  that 
minimise damage to the environment and society is well applied in their Member State. A similar 
proportion (49%) thinks that digital rights and principles are applied well in their country in terms 
of effective  freedom  of choice  online,  including when  interacting  with  artificial  intelligence  (e.g., 
chatbots,  digital  assistants).  Moreover,  while,  on  the  one  hand,  a  slight  majority  of  Europeans 
(51%) consider that their privacy online is well protected, on the other hand, having control over 
one's  own  data,  i.e.  how  it  is  used  online  and  with  whom  it  is  shared,  is  not  well  protected 
according to four in ten Europeans (39%), and well protected according to less than half of citizens 
(49%). Regarding children and young people, only 45% of Europeans consider that their country is 
ensuring  a  safe  digital  environment  and  content  for  them.  Overall,  more  than  four  out  of  ten 
(43%) are worried about the safety of children online. 

These  findings  are  only  a  snapshot  of  perceptions,  and  it  will  be  important  to  have  more 
comprehensive data in the coming years, in particular from Member States, notably through their 
national  roadmaps  with  a  view  to  enabling  a  more  consistent  mechanism  to  monitor  effective 
progress at EU and national levels over the years. 

2.1.3  Chapter I: Putting people at the centre of the digital transformation 

Putting people at the centre of the digital transformation of our societies and economies is at the 
core  of  the  European  Union  vision  outlined  in  the  Digital  Decade  policy  programme  general 
objectives  (article  3)  and  the  European  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and  Principles.  The  Union 
believes  that  the  rapidly  growing  presence  and  impact  of  digital  technology  should  benefit 
everyone and must not undermine individual rights online. 
According to the Berlin Declaration Monitoring 20234, Member States have increased their overall 
scores on the promotion of fundamental rights and democratic values in the digital sphere, such 
as non-discrimination, freedom of expression or a high level of consumer protection, raising the EU 
average from 73% in 2021 to 85% in 2022. Member States are reported as having stepped up their 
efforts  to  increase  awareness  of  the  relevance  of  a  value-based  digital  transformation  through 
knowledge-sharing  platforms  and  events.  To  a  lesser  extent,  Member  States  have  advanced  on 
measures  translating  fundamental  rights  in  the  digital  sphere  into  concrete  tangible  policies  by 
incorporating  them  into  public  sector  innovation  policies  and  technology  procurement  rules, 
scoring 75% in 2022. 

It  contrasts  to  some  extent  with  the  perceptions of citizens.  Only  half (50%)  of  Europeans  think 
that the EU protects well their rights in the digital environment, a slight increase since 2021 (+2 
pp),  while  over  one  in  three  (36%)  think  the  opposite,  as  shown  by  the  new  Special 
Eurobarometer.  Younger  and  higher-educated  respondents  are  overall  more  likely  to  think  that 
their digital rights are well protected in their country. Citizens feel most protected in Ireland (69%) 

4  Report  on  the  monitoring  of  the  Berlin  Declaration,  Directorate  General  for  Informatics,  European 
Commission, June 2023 

6 

 
 
 
 
while  citizens  from  Greece  are  the  most  worried  (51%).  More  than  four  out  of  five  Europeans 
(86%) consider that Member States should collaborate more to ensure EU values and rights are 
respected online. 

The  European  Union  is  taking  action  to  ensure  that  the  values  of  the  EU  and  the  rights  of 
individuals are respected online as well as offline. The following chapters outline the action of the 
EU and Member States on specific sectors and issues and show the human-centric vision of digital 
transformation  that  is  at  the  core  of  EU  landmark  legislation,  such  as  the  Digital  Services  Act,  e-
Privacy or General Data Protection Regulation.  

The EU and its Member States have also committed to ensuring responsible and diligent action by 
all actors in the digital environment. A number of stakeholder initiatives are also active in this area. 

The EU and Member States have also committed to promote this human-centric vision of digital 
transformation  with  international  partners,  both  in  bilateral  and  multilateral  settings.  The 
Declaration  can  guide  EU  partners  towards  a  digital  transformation  that  puts  people  and  their 
human rights  at the  centre  throughout  the world.  It has  been a key source of inspiration for the 
December  2022  OECD  Ministerial  Declaration  on  a  Trusted,  Sustainable  and  Inclusive  Digital 
Future, and for the Declaration on the Future of the Internet (DFI) launched in 2022. It also feeds 
into  the  United  Nations  Global  Digital  Compact,  to  be  agreed  at  the  upcoming  Summit  of  the 
Future  in  September  2024  (cf.  section  3),  as  well  as  into  negotiations  ongoing  at  the  Council  of 
Europe on an international framework convention on artificial intelligence (AI).  

Best practice5 

Germany  provides  a  good  example  of  an  initiative  put  in  place  to  foster  fundamental  rights  and 
democratic value with the portal Germany4Ukraine, created in response to the increased arrival of 
Ukrainians in Germany following the Russian invasion of their country. As a reaction to this situation, 
the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community quickly set up the help portal as a central and 
secure  digital  point  of  contact  for  Ukrainian  refugees.  The  online  portal  was  published  in  a  basic 
version  on  16  March  2022  and  shortly  thereafter  an  associated  mobile  application  was  made 
available  in  all  common  app  stores.  Since  then,  the  portal’s  offerings  have  been  extensively 
expanded. It currently contains information on eleven key topics in Ukrainian, Russian, English, and 
German. It currently records over 1 040 000 website visits and 64 000 app downloads.  

Finland  

Finland  provides  a  good  example  for  including  fundamental  rights  in  its  technology  procurement 
rules through a Code of Conduct, which specifies the minimum requirements regarding responsibility 
that have to be part of any procurement contract. They include, for example, compliance with the 
United  Nations  Universal  Declaration  of  Human  Rights  and  local  legislation  as  well  as  obligations 
relating  to  employment  terms  and  working  conditions,  environmental  protection,  and  corruption 
prevention. 

2.1.4  Chapter II: Solidarity and inclusion 

With  the  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and  Principles  and  the  general  objectives  of  the  Digital 
Decade,  the  European  Union  and  Member  States  stress  the  need  to  promote  solidarity  and 
inclusion with regards to digital technology and services to support a fair and inclusive society and 
economy.  They  have  committed,  among  other  things,  to  a  digital  transformation  that  leaves 
nobody  behind,  which  should  benefit  everyone,  achieve  gender  balance,  and  include  notably 

5 Report on the monitoring of the Berlin Declaration, Directorate General for Informatics, European 
Commission, June 2023 

7 

 
 
 
  
 
elderly people, people living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, and marginalised or vulnerable 
people. Over four out of five Europeans (85%) believe that Member States should cooperate more 
to ensure that digital technologies and services are accessible to everyone.  

According to the Berlin Declaration Monitoring 2023, a vast majority of EU Member States (74%) 
are  implementing  measures to  ensure  that  digital public services and information are  inclusive 
and  accessible,  including  for  persons  with  disabilities  and  in  line  with  the  Web  Accessibility 
Directive6  and  the  European  Accessibility  Act7.  Moreover,  most  Member  States  (82%)  enable 
citizens to use their mobile devices to carry out digital public services and cooperate at EU level to 
ensure mobile device interoperability across borders.  

Despite  the  increasing digitalisation of many aspects of our lives,  some  marginalised  groups  and 
persons with disabilities continue to be left behind with regard to their digital literacy and access 
to digital services which are key to education, social inclusion and labour market participation8. 

The  2023  Commission’s  Report  on  Access  to  Essential  Services  in  the  EU  identifies  lack  of  digital 
skills as one of the main barriers preventing vulnerable groups to access digital communications. It 
also shows that 7.6% of people at-risk-of-poverty could still not afford an internet connection at 
home  in  2022  in  the  EU,  with  Romania,  Bulgaria  and  Hungary  recording  values  over  25%,  20.5% 
and  16.5%9.  The  2021  report10  of  the  EU  Fundamental  Rights  Agency  (FRA)  shows  that  remote 
learning presents particular challenges to children from disadvantaged backgrounds and at-risk-of 
poverty,  for  example  Roma  children.  As  the  2023  DESI  shows,  the  gender  gap  persists: 
approximately  only  one  in  five  ICT  specialists  and  ICT  graduates  were  women  according  to  the 
latest figures, which may affect the way digital solutions are devised and deployed (SWD thematic 
report on skills).  
The digital divide between generations is also significant11. As shown by 2022 Eurostat data12, over 
99% of 16-24 years olds are using the Internet in the EU 27 compared to around 83% of individuals 
aged  between  55-74.  There  are  even  bigger  differences  regarding  the  uptake  of  e-commerce: 
According to the Consumer Conditions Scoreboard 2023 e-commerce is taken up by 81% of those 
aged  from  18  to  54  but  only  by  slightly  over  half  (51%)  of  those  over  the  age  of  64.  Similar 
differences exist by education, with only 51% of people with lower secondary education or below 
making  purchases  online,  compared  to  79%  of  respondents  with  tertiary  level  education.  A 
rural/urban divide in the use of online buying is also apparent. 

Worryingly,  the  WBA’s  Digital  Inclusion  Benchmark  (DIB)  from March  2023  shows  that  less  than 
14% of the world’s major tech companies have made progress on digital inclusion. The majority 
of tech companies are still lagging behind in their responsibility to ensure that people are able to 

6 Directive (EU) 2016/2102 
7 Directive (EU) 2019/882 
8 The digital divide between persons with and without disabilities is significant. As shown by 2022 Eurostat 
data 94% of persons without a disability are using internet across the EU compared with 84% of those with 
disabilities (Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu)). The Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2021-
2030) recalls that around 64% of persons with disabilities have an internet connection at home compared to 
about 88% of persons without disabilities (The Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2021-2030) 
- European Commission (europa.eu), p. 6).  
9  Commission’s  Report  on  Access  to  Essential  Services  in  the  EU  (SWD(2023)  213  final/2).  Available  at 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&furtherNews=yes&newsId=10595. 
10 FRA Fundamental Rights report 2021, Figure 5.2., page 130 
11 FRA paper, 2020: 
https://www.bmfsfj.de/resource/blob/160708/718712aca2e438178bc34cf3993cb15a/background-paper-
fra-conference-data.pdf 
12 Eurostat, 2022 : https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/bookmark/13a775eb-9df0-4ae8-a8b3-
69f93a3e1e03?lang=en 

8 

 
 
 
use digital technology in a way that benefits them. However, there are a handful of companies - 
mostly European - leading the way on digital inclusion. 
During a stakeholder workshop organised by the European Commission to feed into this report13, 
civil society representatives noted that the public sector can set a good example for the industry, 
for instance by ensuring that the digitalisation of public services does not lead to the exclusion for 
some. 

In order to create a ‘Union of equality’, ensuring the accessibility of online services is key. While the 
2022  review  of  the  Web  Accessibility  Directive14  shows  that  the  Commission  and  the  Member 
States  have  fulfilled  their  obligations,  there  is  still  much  progress  to  be  made  in  practice  for  all 
public  sector  websites  and  mobile  applications  to  be  fully  accessible  to  persons  with  disabilities. 
Under the European Accessibility Act15, a wide range of products and services, including electronic 
communications,  e-commerce  and  ICT  equipment  must  be  made  accessible  for  persons  with 
disabilities also in the private sector. 

In the context of inclusion, the EU  and Member States  have also undertaken to develop a digital 
transformation  that  promotes  cultural  and  linguistic  diversity.  However,  the  Fundamental  Rights 
Agency (FRA)16  found that while technologies and the availability of tools for English related to 
natural language processing (NLP), which help computers process and analyse large amounts of 
natural language data, have improved considerably in recent years, tools for other languages are 
still  lagging  far  behind.  To  date,  the  EU  and  Member  States  do  not  seem  to  be  taking  enough 
measures to foster more language diversity in natural language processing (NLP) tools as a way of 
mitigating bias in algorithms and improving the accuracy of data. The proposal for an Alliance for 
Language Technologies, to be implemented through an European Digital Infrastructure Consortium 
(EDIC), aims to address the shortage of European language data training through development of 
large multi-language models.  

In  the  Declaration  and  as  general  objectives,  the  EU  and  Member  States  have  undertaken  to 
develop adequate frameworks so that all market actors benefiting from the digital transformation 
assume their social responsibilities and make a fair and proportionate contribution to the costs of 
public goods, services, and infrastructures, for the benefit of all people living in the EU. As part of 
an open dialogue with all stakeholders, the Commission has held during the first semester of 2023 
an  exploratory  consultation  to  gather  views  on  the  potential  developments  of  the  connectivity 
sector and its infrastructure. 

Best practice  

In order to address the digital gender divide, Slovenia has put in place the Female Engineer of the 
Year  award  to  inspire  young  girls  to  choose  engineering  careers  by  providing  role  models  and 
highlighting their work17. Similarly, Italy promotes the Girls Code it Better initiative focusing on girls 
in secondary education and on boosting their interest towards digital and innovation-related topics 
through a course delivered during extracurricular afternoon classes18.  

In Finland, universities and non-governmental organisations are cooperating on the OdigO Project - 
Lapland, an online programme for seniors that is accessible to anyone interested in the topic  and 

13 For more information, see Report on Outreach and Consultation Activities, Digital Decade Policy 
Programme. 
14 Web Accessibility Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2102) 
15 Directive (EU) 2019/882 of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services 
16 https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2022/bias-algorithmhttps://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2022/bias-
algorithm 
17 https://digital-skills-jobs.europa.eu/en/inspiration/good-practices/female-engineer-year-slovenia. 
18 https://digital-skills-jobs.europa.eu/en/inspiration/good-practices/girls-code-it-better-italy. 

9 

 
 
 
 
aims  to  increase  Lapland  residents’  awareness  of  initiatives  supporting  the  digital  skills  of  adults 
and aging populations19. 

Connectivity 

The  Declaration  provides  that  everyone  should  have  access  to  affordable  and  high-speed  digital 
connectivity  everywhere  in  the  EU,  while  general  objectives  refer  to  ensuring  that  “digital 
technologies and services are accessible to all, everywhere in the Union”. This is a key prerequisite 
in  order  to  promote  equal  chances  in  an  increasingly  digitalised  world.  As  detailed  in  the  SWD 
thematic  report  on  infrastructure,  97%  of  EU  households  had  Internet  access  in  202220.  Overall, 
73%  of  households  had  fixed  very  high-capacity  network  (VHCN)  and  81%  5G  coverage.  While 
Malta was leading with a 100% VHCN coverage in 2022, with 7 other Member States  above 90% 
coverage21, some Member States had much lower coverage, e.g., Greece (28%), Czechia (53%) and 
Italy (54%). There is also a persistent rural/urban digital divide: despite progress over the last years, 
broadband coverage of rural areas remains challenging, with 9% of households not covered by any 
fixed network. 

According to the 2023 Special Eurobarometer, only a slight majority of Europeans (53%) think that 
everyone  has  access  to  an  affordable  high-speed  internet  connection,  and  more  than  one  third 
(35%)  stress  the  need  for  better  connectivity.  Europeans  rank  improving  the  availability  of 
high-speed internet as the second most important action that their country  should prioritise with 
regards to digitalisation. In addition, 75% of Europeans continue to call for better prices, despite 
the  decreasing  mobile  and  fixed  broadband  prices,  as  shown  by  the  Retail  Broadband  Prices  in 
Europe from the 2023 study. The report shows that on fixed broadband, there has been an overall 
decrease  in  prices  at  EU  level  in  2022  compared  to  last  year  (i.e.,  2021)  for  offers  in  the  speed 
category of ≥100 Mbps. There was a change in prices for all baskets, including Single Play, Double 
Play,  and  Triple  Play.  The figure  1  below  shows  that  there  is  a  price  decline  for  Single Play ≥30  - 
<100  Mbps,  while  Double  Play  and  Triple  Play  offers  experienced  a  slight  increase  (1.69%  and 
2.42% respectively) in comparison to last year. The most significant decrease of prices of about 9% 
was  observed  in  Single  Play  offers  with  speeds  from  100  Mbps  to  999  Mbps.  In  the  gigabit 
category,  Triple  Play  offers  have  experienced  a  more  notable  decrease,  with  prices  dropping  by 
approximately 4.14%. 

19 https://digital-skills-jobs.europa.eu/en/inspiration/good-practices/odigo-project-lapland-finland 
20 Source: Broadband coverage in Europe studies for the European Commission by Omdia and Point Topic 
21 Malta, Netherlands, Denmark, Romania, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, and Latvia 

10 

 
 
 
 
Figure 1 - Price changes in least expensive broadband prices, EU level (2021-2022) 

The  latest Commission  report  on  the  implementation  of the  Regulation  on  open  internet  access, 
which  aims  to  ensure  that  all  users  can  continue  to  benefit  from  online  content  and  services 
without discrimination, prioritisation, restriction or interference from internet service providers as 
technologies develop, confirmed that the Regulation continues to guarantee the essential balance 
between the protection of end-users' rights and the support of a competitive environment in the 
EU's Digital Single Market. 

Best practice 

Many  Member  States  have  made  steps  towards  improving  connectivity.  In  Ireland,  the  Mobile 
Phone  and  Broadband  Taskforce,  made  up  of  state  actors  and  industry  representatives,  aims  to 
identify  and  overcome  barriers  to  improved  connectivity,  such  as  permit  granting,  planning  and 
licensing processes and more efficient use of infrastructure and assets.  

Following  the  first  Connecting  Europe  Facility  (CEF)  -  Digital  call  for  proposals  in  2022,  the 
Commission also selected seven 5G for Smart Communities projects that will deploy 5G connectivity 
and  enable  innovative  use  cases  for  public  services  and  services  of  general  interest.  The  projects 
started  in  Q1  2023  with  a  timeframe  of  three  years.  For  instance,  in  Belgium,  the  EU-funded 
Flanders  Smart  Fields  project  will  provide  standalone  5G  coverage  for  the  Westhoek  region  in 
Belgium to support innovative applications in healthcare and education.  

Digital education, training and skills 

The  Declaration  provides  that  everyone  has  the  right  to  education,  training  and  lifelong  learning 
and should be able to acquire all basic and advanced digital skills while the general objective of the 
Digital Decade commits to “bridging the digital divide by promoting continuous opportunities for all 
individuals, developing basic and advanced digital skills and competencies” and to gender balance.  

11 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 
 
 
 
According  to  DESI  2023,  54%  of  Europeans  had  at  least  basic  digital  skills  and  only  26%  above 
basic  digital  skills  in 2021  (cf.  ‘Digital Decade  cardinal  points:  digital  skills,  digital  infrastructures, 
digitalisation  of  businesses  and  digitalisation  of  public  services’,  SWD(2023)  571).  This  means 
almost half of Europeans do not have the skills needed to access the opportunities offered online 
such  as  obtaining  information  from  public  authorities,  using  online  banking  or  buying  online.  In 
eight  Member  States,  the  share  of  individuals  with  at  least  basic  digital  skills  is  lower  than  50%. 
Differences  between  Member  States  are  stark:  while  the  Netherlands  and  Finland  are  close  to 
reaching the  EU 2030 target (80%) with 79% of people  having  at least basic digital skills in 2021, 
Bulgaria and Romania have only reached about 30%.  

Levels of digital skills vary within different segments of the population. While 71% of young adults 
(aged 16-24) and 79% of individuals with high formal education have at least basic digital skills, only 
35% of those aged 55-74 and 29% of the retired and the inactive have at least basic digital skills. A 
gap is also visible between the rural and urban areas: only 46% of individuals living in rural areas 
have at least basic digital skills compared to 61% of people living in urban areas. 

According  to  the  new  Special  Eurobarometer,  almost  one  third  of  Europeans  (30%)  do  not  feel 
appropriately equipped for the digital decade, with numbers highest among citizens from Greece 
(47%).  Even  if  the  majority  of  Europeans  (56%)  feel  that  they  are  getting  necessary  basic  or 
advanced  digital  education,  training  and  skills,  with  the  best  results  in  Malta  (80%)  and 
Luxembourg  (75%),  they  think  supporting  more  education  and  training  in  digital  skills  should  be 
among the top five digital priorities of their country. 

However, to date, Member States seem to face difficulties in equipping people with the necessary 
digital skills. The 2023 Berlin Declaration Monitoring shows that they score 100% on offering digital 
skills  training  for  the  public  sector  but  only  61%  on  promoting  initiatives  to  equip  the  general 
public with digital skills.  

Over the last few years, digital technologies have significantly contributed to increasing the quality 
of education and training in Europe, and made it more accessible and inclusive, helping us respond 
to the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine with solutions such as distance learning. Despite 
many initiatives, efforts have so far not resulted in systemic digital transformation in education and 
training22. 

Leverage digital tools for innovative education solutions also requires appropriate teacher training. 
Yet fewer than half of teachers in the EU (49.1%) reported that ICT was included in their formal 
education or training, and only 39% of teachers felt well prepared to use digital technologies for 
teaching23. The EU supports Member States in the digitalisation of schools with significant amounts 
disbursed through various EU programmes; however, a report of the European Court of Auditors 
from April 2023 found that a lack of strategic use of this EU funding in Member States undermines 
its full impact. 

High-speed internet connections were still rare in European schools in 2019, in particular in rural 
and remote areas (including outermost regions). Only 11% of EU students in primary, 17% in lower 
secondary  and  18%  in  upper  secondary  education  were  in  schools  that  had  an  internet  speed 
above 100 Mbps24. When it comes to school equipment,  the share of students  attending schools 
where  more  than  90%  of  digital  equipment  was  operational  ranged  from  61%  at  primary  school 
level to 73% at upper secondary level.  

22 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52023SC0205&qid=1659174525177 (our 
SWD published on 18/04) 
23 OECD (2019), TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners, TALIS. Paris: 

OECD Publishing 

24 European Commission (2019). 2nd Survey of Schools: ICT in Education. Luxembourg, EU Publications Office 

12 

 
 
 
In order to support Member States and the education and training sector in providing high-quality, 
inclusive  and  accessible  digital  education  and  training  and  develop  the  digital  skills  of  European 
citizens,  the  European  Commission  has  adopted  in  April  2023  two  Proposals  for  a  Council 
Recommendation in the context of the European Year of Skills. 

Best practice 

In 2022, several Member States put in place good practices related to the development of basic or 
advanced digital skills. For instance, in Ireland, the Skills to Advance initiative offers upskilling and 
reskilling opportunities25.  

In order to educate  people about  artificial intelligence  (AI)  and  empower  them to make informed 
choices, Germany has put forward in 2020 an AI Campus, a free digital platform with a selection of 
courses  on  AI  and  data  literacy,  with  the  objective  to  build  networks  between  learners,  training 
providers of AI courses, and educational experts.  

Fair and just working conditions 

Everyone has the right to fair, just, healthy and safe working conditions and appropriate protection 
in  the  digital  environment.  According  to  European  citizens  this  is  not  always  the  case.  The  2023 
Special Eurobarometer shows that only half (51%) of Europeans think that people working in the 
digital  environment  are  benefitting  from  fair  and  healthy  working  conditions,  including  the 
work-life balance, while one third (33%) think the opposite. 

The Declaration provides that people should be able to disconnect after working hours and benefit 
from  a  work-life  balance26.  The  European  Parliament  adopted  a  Resolution  on  the  right  to 
disconnect  in  202127,  notably  calling  for  a  proposal  for  a  directive  on  minimum  standards  and 
conditions on the right to disconnect and an EU legislative framework on telework. The Resolution 
also highlighted the importance of social partners’ autonomy and their role in implementing rules 
to address the challenges of digitalisation, telework and the right to disconnect. 
The  EU  cross-industry  social  partners’  work  programme  for  2022-2428  includes  the  review  and 
update  of  the  2002  Autonomous  Agreement  on  Telework,  with  a  view  to  a  legally  binding 
agreement  to  be  transformed  into  EU  law.  The  European  cross-industry  social  partners  are 
currently negotiating a new agreement on teleworking and the right to disconnect, intended to be 
put forward for adoption in the form of a legally binding agreement implemented via a Directive. 

At national level, several Member States, including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Greece, Slovakia, 
Ireland and Portugal have put in place legislation that includes the right to disconnect, with France 
being the first EU country to legally recognise the right to disconnect in 2016.  

With  regards  to  platform  workers,  the  European  Commission  put  forward  in  December  2021  a 
Proposal  for  a  Directive  on  improving  working  conditions  in  platform  work,  currently  under 
negotiation.  This  Proposal  notably  includes  measures  to  correctly  determine  the  employment 
status  of  people  working  through  digital  labour  platforms.  The  proposed  Platform  Workers 
Directive aims at promoting transparency, fairness and accountability in algorithmic management 
and the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace and human oversight. It would complement 

25 https://digital-skills-jobs.europa.eu/en/inspiration/good-practices/skills-advance-ireland. 
26 While no right to disconnect exists in EU law as such, the Working Time Directive from 2003 sets minimum 
daily and weekly rest periods and limits weekly working time and the length of night work. A  report on the 
implementation of the directive, which looks also deals with telework, was adopted in March 2023. 
27 European Parliament resolution of 21 January 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on the right 
to disconnect (2019/2181(INL)), OJ C 456, 10.11.2021, p. 161. 
28 European social dialogue work programme 2022-2024 | BusinessEurope 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act that is currently under negotiation, which proposes a risk-
related approach to the use of AI. 

Several Member States have already adopted platform work legislation at national level, some of 
which  has  been  inspired  by  the  Commission  proposal.  In  most  cases,  focus  is  on  correct 
classification  of  employment  status,  including  in  Spain,  Belgium,  Portugal,  Croatia  and  Malta. 
France  and  Greece  have  also  adopted  legislation,  providing  additional  rights  for  self-employed 
platform workers, namely collective rights and protections in the area of health and safety. 

It  is  worth  underscoring  that  digitalisation  and  automation  of  working  environment  could 
constitute both advantages and disadvantages for persons with disabilities. The technologies and 
processes could be designed and implemented in an accessible and inclusive way to be usable by 
persons  with  disabilities.  On  the  other  hand,  they  could  be  helpful  in  providing  reasonable 
accommodation at work, for example through captioning, predictive text or visual recognition.  

Best practice 

In 2021, Greece adopted a new labour law including provisions for platform workers. In particular, 
it  defines  what  a  digital  platform  is  under  Greek  employment  law,  as  well  as  the  contractual 
relationship  between  digital  platforms  and  service  providers.  It  provides  for  a  presumption  of 
employment  relationship.  The  law  also  guarantees  trade  union  rights  for  the  providers  of 
independent  services.  Platforms  must  inform  service providers  of their  statutory  rights  before  the 
commencement of their duties and provide them with a written and a digital copy of their contract. 
Health and safety of the service provider remains the sole responsibility of the platform29. 

Digital public services online 

According to the Special Eurobarometer survey, four out of five (81%) Europeans think that digital 
technologies  will  be  important  to  access  public  services  online  by  2030.  European  citizens  think 
that  improving  online  access  to  and  usability  of  public  services  should  be  one  of  the  top  five 
priorities of their government with regards to digitalisation. 

The  Declaration  states  that  everyone  should  have  online  access to key  public  services  in  the EU. 
Specifically, the EU and Member States committed to facilitating and supporting seamless, secure 
and interoperable access across the EU to digital public services designed to meet people’s needs 
in  an  effective  manner,  including  in  particular  digital  health  and  care  services,  such  as  access  to 
electronic  health  records.  A  similar  commitment  is  made  in  the  general  objective  of  the  Digital 
decade30. 

Overall, the online availability of digital public services for citizens in the EU is scored 77 out of 
100  in  2022,  according  to  2023  DESI  data  (cf.  ‘Digital  Decade  cardinal  points:  digital  skills,  digital 
infrastructures,  digitalisation of  businesses  and  digitalisation  of  public  services’,  SWD(2023)  571). 
Malta, Luxembourg, Estonia and Finland performed the  best on this measure, scoring more than 
90, while Romania is lagging behind with a score of 48. Still according to DESI, 71% of citizens have 
online access to their electronic health records.  

When it comes to digital public services, equitable access to electronic health records with secure 
means of authentication is key. The EU performs quite well on this indicator, with an EU average 

29 Greek Law no. 4808/2021 | Initiative | Eurofound Platform Economy Repository (europa.eu) 
30  online  participation  in  democratic  life  is  possible  for  everyone,  and that public  services,  health  and  care 
services  are  also  accessible  in  a  trusted  and  secure  online  environment  for  everyone,  in  particular  for 
disadvantaged groups including persons with disabilities, and in rural and remote areas such as outermost 
regions, offering inclusive, efficient, interoperable and personalised services and tools with high security and 
privacy standard. 

14 

 
 
 
  
 
score  of  71  and  with  Denmark  (95),  Lithuania  (91),  Finland  (89),  Estonia  (89),  Austria  (88)  and 
Poland (86) in the lead. On the other hand, Ireland does not enable such an access for citizens at 
all. 

According  to  the  Eurobarometer  survey,  almost  one  third  (32%)  of  Europeans  think  that  it  is 
difficult  to  access  digital  public  services,  while  54%  think  it  is  easy,  in  particular  in  Luxembourg, 
Malta, Ireland and Finland (over 70%).  

In the Declaration, the EU and Member States committed to ensuring that people living in the EU 
are offered the possibility to use an accessible, voluntary, secure and trusted digital identity that 
gives access to a broad range of online services. This should be the case once Member States will 
have provided their citizens and residents with a trusted and secure way to authenticate and share 
qualified data attributes online through a ‘digital wallet’ that would allow transactions across the 
EU, in line with the proposed Regulation establishing European Digital Identity Framework, revising 
the  current  eIDAS  Regulation31.  The  proposal  is  currently  under  legislative  discussion.  Until 
adoption of the revised Regulation, Member States which have  notified at least one national eID 
means under the current eIDAS Regulation are deemed to meet this commitment. 

The  EU  also  aims  to  ensure  that  digital  public  services  are  accessible  to  citizens  of  any  Member 
State  without  discrimination.  The  Interoperable  Europe  Act32  proposed  by  the  European 
Commission  seeks  to  help  the  EU  and  Member  States  to  deliver  better  public  services, 
interoperable by default, to citizens and businesses.  

In  the  area  of  safe  and  secure  public  administration,  a  proposal  to  establish  an  EDIC  for  the 
coordination of the  activities  of  the  European  Blockchain  Service  infrastructure  (the  EDIC  for the 
European Blockchain Partnership and European Blockchain Service Infrastructure (EBSIC-EDIC) that 
would  further  enable  cross-border  exchanges  between  public  authorities,  public  and  businesses) 
has been submitted by Member States. Another proposal to set up The Innovative Massive Public 
Administration  InterConnected  Transformation  Services  (IMPACTS)  EDIC  that  focuses  on  cross-
border  services  provision  for  European  citizens  though  advanced  ICTs  and  open  principles  and 
standards has been pre-notified.  

Best practice 

In  order  to  increase  the  online  availability  of  digital  public  services  for  citizens  and  businesses, 
Portugal  put  forward  a  dedicated  web  portal  which  offers  information  and  documentation  of 
technical architectures of the public administration platforms, e.g. digital identity, open data portal, 
interoperability  platform,  electronic  notifications  system,  or  a  single  digital  gateway  for  public 
services ePortugal. 

2.1.5  Chapter III: Freedom of choice 

Interactions with algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems  

The Declaration provides that artificial intelligence (AI) systems should benefit people including by 
making their own informed choices in the digital environment while being protected against risks 
and harm to health, safety and fundamental rights. Such commitment is also linked to the general 
objective  set  in  the  Digital  Decade  to  “promoting  a  human-centred,  fundamental-rights-based, 
inclusive, transparent and open digital environment where technologies and services  observe and 
enhance Union principles, rights and values”. 

31 Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust  services for electronic transactions in 
the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC. 
32  The  proposal  was  adopted  by  the  Commission  on  18  November  2022  and  is  currently  under  inter-
institutional negotiations. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
According  to  the  Special  Eurobarometer,  only  49%  of  Europeans  believe  that  they  are  getting 
effective  freedom  of  choice  online,  including  when  interacting  with  artificial  intelligence  (e.g., 
chatbots,  digital  assistants),  with  citizens  in  the  Netherlands  (43%)  and  Greece  (42%)  being  the 
most sceptical. According to the WBA’s Digital Inclusion Benchmark 2023, only approximately 22% 
of companies have made commitments to ethical Artificial Intelligence principles. 

Further  to  the  release  of  ChatGPT  and  other  generative  AI  tools  in  late  2022,  there  have  been 
growing concerns about the risks posed by digital technologies to the functioning of our societies. 
The  Artificial  Intelligence  Act,  proposed  by  the  Commission  in  April  2021  and  still  under 
negotiation  among  EU  legislators,  should  be  instrumental  in  reinforcing  the  protection  of  safety 
and  fundamental  rights  of  citizens  in  the  digital  environment.  It  aims  to  address  several 
commitments undertaken in the Declaration. It supports the objective of the Union to be a global 
leader  in  the  development  of  secure,  trustworthy  and  ethical  artificial  intelligence  systems.  It 
should ensure an adequate level of transparency about the use of AI systems, and that people are 
empowered  to  use  them,  informed  and  aware  when  interacting  with  them.  A  number  of 
mandatory  requirements  are  introduced  for  AI  systems  posing  significant  risks  to  the  health  and 
safety or fundamental rights of persons. For example, such AI systems would have to be based on 
adequate datasets to avoid discrimination and enable human oversight. 

Implementing these principles  and commitments in practice is a challenge.  As an illustration, the 
Fundamental Right Agency (FRA) 2022 report33 highlighted the complexities of bias detection and 
assessment of potential discrimination. Its 2020 report34 also showed that a big part of Europeans 
is unaware of their rights. In addition, most people are not aware that they have the right to have a 
say when decisions are automated. The report finds that to effectively contest decisions based on 
the use of AI, people need to know that AI is used, and how and where to complain35. 

Better  transparency  and  user-friendliness  in  the  terms  and  conditions  in  relation  to  the  use  of 
digital services is also essential. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey36 from 2020 found that overall, 
only  one  in  five  Europeans  always  reads  the  terms  and  conditions  when  using  online  services 
(22%). Among those who read them at least sometimes, 27% did not understand them.  

The  Digital  Services  Act  applies  already  at  the  end  of  August  2023  to  19  designated  very  large 
online  platforms  (VLOPs)  and very large online  search engines  (VLOSEs). The rules will oblige  the 
service  providers  to  give  authentic  choices  to  users  when  interacting  with  certain  algorithmic 
systems. For example, users should be able to understand why they are targeted with ads, or why 

33  Bias  in  algorithms  -  Artificial  intelligence  and  discrimination  |  European  Union  Agency  for  Fundamental 
Rights (europa.eu) 
34 https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/artificial-intelligence-and-fundamental-rights 
35 FRA’s 2020 report ‘Getting the Future Right – Artificial intelligence and Fundamental rights’, page 65. While 
the statistics quote the 2019 Eurobarometer survey, the report is also based on 91 interviews with officials in 
public administration and staff in private companies, in selected EU Member States. They were asked about 
their use of AI, their awareness of fundamental rights issues involved, and practices in terms of assessing and 
mitigating risks linked to the use of AI. There are some findings from those interviews about  awareness of 
fundamental  rights  and  legal  frameworks  in  the  AI  context  in  section  4.2  (from  page  58)  of  the  2020 
reporthttps://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2020-artificial-
intelligence_en.pdf).https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/artificial-intelligence-and-fundamental-
rights  91  interviews  with  officials  in  public  administration  and  staff  in  private  companies,  in  selected  EU 
Member  States.  They  were  asked  about  their  use  of  AI,  their  awareness  of  fundamental  rights  issues 
involved,  and  practices  in  terms  of  assessing  and  mitigating  risks  linked  to  the  use  of  AI.  There  are  some 
findings from those interviews about awareness of fundamental rights and legal frameworks in the AI context 
in  section  4.2  (from  page  58)  of  the  2020  report).  https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/artificial-
intelligence-and-fundamental-rights 
36 FRA Fundamental Rights Survey, Your rights matter: data protection and privacy  , page 9. (based on data 
from FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey carried out in 2019). 

16 

 
 
 
they are recommended certain content. They should also be able to choose not to be targeted with 
recommendations based on their profiles. Service providers will have to assess all risks stemming 
from their algorithmic systems and address them.  

The new European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency, launched by the European Commission in 
April  2023  and  hosted  by  the  Joint  Research  Centre,  aims  to  develop  expertise  and  tools,  in 
particular  as  regards  platforms’  algorithmic  systems  such  as  recommender  systems,  content 
moderation and advertising algorithms, in order to support the monitoring and supervision of the 
Digital Services Act. 

On the research side, a commitment in the Declaration is to take measures to ensure that research 
in artificial intelligence respects the highest ethical standards and relevant EU Law. As a matter of 
fact,  any  project  developing,  deploying  or  using  AI,  be  it  in  Horizon  Europe  or  Digital  Europe 
programmes, has to undergo a screening to check compliance with applicable ethical requirements 
provided for in the Grant Agreement37. 

Best practice 

Spain has launched a pilot for an AI regulatory sandbox, in close cooperation with the Commission. 
The  main  goal  is  to  provide  practical  experience,  best  practices  and  lessons  learnt  based  on  the 
practical  implementation  of  the  requirements  of  the  Proposed  AI  Act,  including  in  relation  to  the 
risks  to  fundamental  rights.  Around  8-12  AI  systems  will  be  supervised  following  a  public  call  for 
proposals. The project, funded under Spain’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan has a budget of 
around  EUR  4.3  million  and  will  run  for  three  years  until  2025.  Cooperation  at  EU  level  and 
involvement  of  other  EU  Member  States  will  be  ensured  within  the  EU  Expert  Group  on  AI  and 
Digitalisation of Businesses set up by the Commission. First results are expected in 202338. 

A fair, open and safe online environment 

The  Declaration  provides  that  everyone  should  be  able  to  effectively  and  freely  choose  which 
online services to use, based on objective, transparent, easily accessible and reliable information. 
Signatories committed in particular to ensuring a safe and secure digital environment based on fair 
competition, where  fundamental  rights  are  protected,  users'  rights  and  consumer  protection  are 
ensured,  and  responsibilities  of  platforms,  especially  large  players  and  gatekeepers,  are  well 
defined. 
The  Digital  Services  Act  (DSA)39  and  the  Digital  Markets  Act  (DMA)40  bring  comprehensive  and 
ground-breaking legislative rules to address the societal and economic impacts of online services in 
the EU, ensuring the protection of fundamental rights and fostering opportunities for businesses. 

The DSA and the DMA form a set of rules that apply across the EU. They have two main goals: 

•  To create a safer digital space in which the fundamental rights of all users of digital services 

are protected. 

37 On self-assessment cf. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-
2027/common/guidance/how-to-complete-your-ethics-self-assessment_en.pdf  
38 Resumen_Piloto_Sandbox_IA_Final_002_iRVZM8A5tSlmH6qfur4RAqNex4_87973.pdf 
39 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single 
Market  For  Digital  Services  and  amending  Directive  2000/31/EC  (Digital  Services  Act)  https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022R2065&qid=1666857835014 
40 Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on 
contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 
2020/1828 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?toc=OJ%3AL%3A2022%3A265%3ATOC&uri=uriserv%3AOJ.L_.2022.265.01.0001.01.ENG 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
•  To establish a level playing field to foster innovation, growth, and competitiveness in the 

European internal market and beyond.  

On  the  one  side,  the  DSA  creates  comprehensive  new  obligations  for  the  providers  of  online 
intermediary services to reduce harms and counter risks online, introduces strong protections for 
users'  rights  online,  and  places  digital  platforms  under  a  unique  new  transparency  and 
accountability framework. Designed as a single, uniform set of rules for the EU, these rules will give 
users new protections and businesses legal certainty across the whole internal market.  

Codes of conduct will continue to be an important tool to tackle all forms of illegal content online 
and respond to systemic risks, while protecting fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, the 
Commission is looking at how the EU Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online can 
add  value  to  the  DSA  regulatory  provisions  in  the  future41.  While  monitoring  by  the  Commission 
with the help of civil society partners had shown that the signatories had made significant progress 
on their responses to hate speech notifications since 2016, positive trends regarding both time of 
review of notifications and removal of hate speech content have slowed down more recently. 

On  the  other  side,  the  DMA  is  one  of  the  first  regulatory  tools  to  comprehensively  regulate  the 
gatekeeper  power  of  the  largest  digital  companies.  It  complements,  but  does  not  change  EU 
competition rules, which continue to apply fully. It aims at preventing gatekeepers from imposing 
unfair conditions on businesses and end users  and at  ensuring the openness of important  digital 
services, such as app stores, online  search engines or  advertising services. Gatekeepers will carry 
an extra responsibility to conduct  themselves  in a way  that ensures an open online  environment 
that is fair for businesses and consumers, and open to innovation by all, by complying with specific 
obligations laid down in the legislation. 

The  DSA  entered  into  force  on  16  November 2022.  The  DMA  entered  into  application  on 2  May 
2023  and  both  regulations  are  directly  applicable  across  the  Union.  On  25  April  2023,  the 
Commission  adopted  the  first  designation  decisions  under  the  DSA,  designating  17  very  large 
online  platforms  (VLOPs)  and  2  very  large  online  search  engines  (VLOSEs)  that  reach  at  least  45 
million monthly active users in the EU, which had four months to comply with the rules42. On 3 July 
2023, seven undertakings providing core platform services notified the Commission of meeting the 
quantitative thresholds laid down in Article 3(2) of the DMA, i.e. providing gateways for business 
users  to  reach  end-users  online43.  The  Commission  had  45  working  days  to  adopt  a  decision 
designating  gatekeepers  in  relation  to  each  of  their  core  platform  services.  The  designated 
gatekeepers will have a maximum of six months after the  designation to ensure compliance with 
the obligations and prohibitions laid down in the DMA. 
The  Platform-to-business  (P2B)  Regulation44  was  the  first  step  towards  a  comprehensive  legal 
framework  for the platform economy; this has since been complemented by the  adoption of  the 
DSA and the DMA.  

The P2B Regulation, including its article 11 on internal complaint handling, applies to all medium-
sized and large  providers of online intermediation services. Therefore,  its scope  goes  beyond the 
Digital  Markets  Act  (Regulation  (EU)  2022/1925)  and  extends  this  legal  certainty  to  business 
building on a mix of ‘gatekeeper’ core platform services and other online intermediation services - 
including those that may interoperate with gatekeepers. In case of the DSA, Article 2(4) of the DSA 

41 The voluntary Code was initiated in 2016 a voluntary Code of Conduct and signed by Facebook, Instagram, 
Twitter, YouTube, Dailymotion, Snapchat, jeuxvideo.com, TikTok (2020), LinkedIn (2021), Viber and Twitch 
(2022). 
42 See also press release https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_2413.  
43 See also press release: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/gatekeepers_en.  
44 Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on promoting 
fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services 

18 

 
 
 
explicitly  acknowledges  that  it  applies  without  prejudice  to  the  P2B  Regulation,  which  regulates 
other aspects of online intermediation. While P2B is mainly focused on the asymmetries between 
the provider (platform operator) and the business user, the DSA pursues broader goals in building a 
safe,  predictable  and  trustworthy  online  environment  and  for  allowing  Union  citizens  and  other 
persons to exercise their fundamental rights. 

According  to  the  Consumer  Conditions  Scoreboard  2023,  more  than  half  of  consumers 
experienced problematic online practices, such as hidden advertising in search results (75%). The 
share of consumers raising concerns about online targeted advertising is very high (94%). The most 
reported  worries  are  about  inappropriate  use  and  sharing  of  personal  data  (70%),  collection  of 
online  data  and  related  profiling  without  explicit  knowledge  or  agreement  (66%)  and  the 
installation of cookies (57%).  

In 2022, the European Commission initiated a Fitness Check of EU consumer law on digital fairness 
which  covers  various  digital  business-to-consumer  commercial  practices,  including  dark  patterns, 
problems  with  personalisation  use  of  AI  chatbots  for  customer  service  and  exploitation  of 
consumer vulnerabilities. The results of the public consultation from February 2023 show that 42% 
of respondents considered that there are still legal gaps or uncertainties in the current consumer 
protection  framework  in  the  digital  environment.  In  2022,  almost  nine  of  ten  consumers  (89%) 
encountered  manipulative  practices  known  as  dark  patterns,  leading  consumers  towards  certain 
choices, 74% saw a lack of disclosure regarding paid promotions by social media influencers, and 
69% experienced difficulties cancelling their digital subscriptions.  

Moreover,  the  2019  Modernisation  Directive  already  adjusted  several  consumer  protection 
Directives to the digital area. For example, consumers now benefit from more transparency when 
they are reading online reviews, searching for products or buying from online marketplaces; they 
also have stronger rules to defend their rights in case they become victims of unfair practices and 
national authorities have at their disposal larger penalties. 

The EU and Member  States have  also undertaken  in the Declaration to promote  interoperability, 
transparency, open technologies and standards as a way to further strengthen trust in technology 
as well as consumers’ ability to make autonomous and informed choices. The Commission has put 
forward an Interoperable Europe Act in November 2022 to strengthen cross border cooperation in 
public sectors across the EU. The Commission also promotes  open technology and standards, for 
instance in the field of Smart Cities and Communities45. 

2.1.6  Chapter IV: Participation in the digital public space 

Besides  recalling  the  right  to  freedom  of  expression  and  information  as  well  as  freedom  of 
assembly  and  of  association  in  the  digital  environment,  the  Declaration  includes  a  number  of 
principles  and  commitments  on  access  to  a  trustworthy,  diverse  and  multilingual  digital 
environment,  with  a  view  to  contributing  to  a  pluralistic  public  debate  and  effective  and  non-
discriminatory  participation  in  democracy.  It  notably  highlights  the  role  of  online  platforms  in 
mitigating the risks stemming from the use of their services in relation to disinformation, which is 
now  also  object of  a  legal  obligation  for  VLOPs  and VLOSEs  under  the DSA.  Such  commitment  is 
closely  linked  with  the  general  objective  of  the  digital  decade  to  promote  a  digital  environment 
that fosters democratic life, is human-centred and fully respects fundamental rights. 

45 The Commission is in the process of standardising at ITU-T a  framework stemming  from a  joint  effort  of 
Smart  Communities  (Living-in.EU).  This  technological  framework,  so-called  MIMs  Framework  caters  for  an 
open, free, and interoperable set of specifications EU-value compliant, which should bring world-wide a set 
of easy-to-implement open and interoperable specifications to develop interoperable digital twins. This aims 
to encourage market entry, innovation, and cost efficiency so that industry and cities can benefit from. 

19 

 
 
 
 
According  to  the  Special  Eurobarometer,  six  in  ten  respondents  (60%)  think  that  freedom  of 
expression and information online, e.g., via online platforms, social networks or search engines, as 
well  as  the  right  to  freedom  of  assembly  and  of  association  in  the  digital  environment  are  well 
protected  in  their  country.  Just  over  half  of  Europeans  (52%)  believe  that  they  have  access  to  a 
trustworthy,  diverse  and  multilingual  digital  environment,  including  more  diverse  content,  less 
disinformation, and less illegal content. One third (32%) of Europeans thinks the opposite is true, 
especially citizens from Greece (48%) and the Netherlands (43%). European citizens rank protecting 
users  from  disinformation  and  illegal  content  as  the  third  most  important  action  their  country 
should prioritise. 

The  2021  Annual  Report  on  the  Application  of  the  EU  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  Protecting 
Fundamental Rights in the Digital Age reported on the challenges to fundamental rights posed by 
online intermediaries such as social media platforms, which can both favour freedom of expression 
and  of  information  and  amplify  the  dissemination  of  illegal  content.  As  regards  illegal  content 
consisting  of  online  harassment  and  violence,  FRA  2021  survey  showed  that  13%  of  women  and 
15% of men in the EU-27 have experienced cyber harassment in 2019. This percentage was higher 
among people aged 16-29 (27%)46. There have already been several sectorial initiatives adopted at 
EU  level  to  tackle  the  problem  of  specific  types  of  illegal  content  while  at  the  same  time 
guaranteeing the protection of fundamental rights47.  

Disinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine 
have highlighted again the serious threats and harms  it  presents to the well-being of  people  and 
the security of societies  around the  world. Disinformation can put  people’s  health in danger and 
threaten  the  success  of  vaccination  campaigns,  despite  the  availability  of  safe  and  efficient 
vaccines. It also forms part of hybrid warfare, disseminating war propaganda and disinformation to 
sow distrust and undermine support for joint EU action against aggressors. Disinformation is also a 
major challenge and threat to our democracies as it can have a major impact on political opinion 
building,  influence  the  outcome  of  elections,  undermine  trust  in  democratic  institutions,  and 
polarise societies.  

In  addition,  new  generative  AI  technologies  -  including  inter  alia  powerful  new  chatbots  and 
image generation and voice simulation software - raise fresh challenges regarding the spread of 
disinformation.  ChatGPT  and  other  advanced  chatbots  are  capable  of  creating  complex  and 
seemingly  well-substantiated  content  in  a  matter  of  seconds.  Image  generation  tools  create 
high-quality, authentic-looking pictures and photos of events and encounters that never happened. 
Voice generation software can imitate the voice of a person based on a sample of a few seconds. 
While these technologies offer new avenues for increased efficiency and economic growth and for 
creative expression, generative AI also has a huge potential to create and amplify false information 
which can be harnessed by bad actors. Such technologies can notably facilitate the spread of false 
and  malicious  narratives  with  ease,  at  unprecedented  scale1  and  efficiency,  in  particular,  as 
manipulated  pictures,  deep  fakes  and  voice  imitation  are  very  powerful  ways  to  convince  the 
audience.  These  threats  underscore  the  need  to  take  decisive  steps  to  fight  the  spread  of 
disinformation,  including  by  requiring  transparency  on  the  part  of  online  platforms  and  by 
empowering  citizens  with  tools  and  skills  that  enable  them  to  identify  and  reckon  with 
disinformation encountered online.  

46 Crime, safety, and victims’ rights – Fundamental Rights Survey (europa.eu), page 56, figure 12. 
47 e.g., AVMSD, the code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech, the Recommendation on the safety of 
journalists,  the  Regulation  on  addressing  the  dissemination  of  terrorist  content  online,  legislation  on 
addressing  online  child  sexual  abuse,  disinformation  and  political  advertising,  the  General  Product  Safety 
Regulation (GPSR). 

20 

 
 
 
In  recent  years,  the  EU  has  been  developing  and  implementing  a  coordinated  framework  for 
effectively  countering  disinformation  and  protecting  democratic  processes  while  fully  respecting 
European values and fundamental rights, in particular the  freedom of expression. The 2022 Code 
of  Practice  on  Disinformation  sets  out  voluntary  commitments  by  major  online  platforms  and 
other relevant stakeholders to counter disinformation. Strengthened in 2022, the Code48 contains 
commitments  such  as  demonetising  the  dissemination  of  disinformation,  enhancing  cooperation 
with  fact-checkers,  addressing  manipulative  behaviours  and  providing  researchers  with  better 
access  to  data.  In  addition,  the  Code  commits  platforms  to  take  actions  aimed  at  empowering 
users, including through dedicated media literacy campaigns, recommender systems that promote 
authoritative  sources,  and  access  to  fact-checking  products.  The  2022  Code  also  includes  a 
reinforced monitoring framework. The Commission intends to monitor the implementation of the 
Code by major online platforms across Europe. In January 2023, the Code’s signatories published 
first  baseline  reports  on  how  they  turn  the  commitments  from  the  Code  into  practice  (February 
2023),  which  provide  an  unprecedented  level  of  transparency  on  measures  taken  to  counter 
disinformation in the EU. It will be assessed whether the Code fulfils the requirements to become 
part of the coregulatory regime for VLOPs provided for in the Digital Services Act, linking it to the 
DSA’s enforcement mechanisms. 
The  Commission  also  established  the  European  Digital  Media  Observatory  (EDMO)49,  which  is 
independent  from  any  public  authority  and  brings  together  fact-checkers,  media  literacy  experts 
and  academic  researchers  to  contribute  to  the  fight  against  disinformation.  Together  with  its 
regional  hubs  covering  100%  of  the  EU  population,  EDMO  focuses  on  detecting,  analysing  and 
exposing  disinformation  campaigns,  conducting  research  on  the  phenomenon  of  disinformation 
and  fostering  media  literacy.  The  Code  of  Practice  and  EDMO  have  also  provided  important 
mechanisms for addressing Russian propaganda and disinformation around the war in Ukraine, a 
top  priority  of  the  EU’s  anti-disinformation  policy.  The  EU  also  supports  media  literacy  activities 
through the Creative Europe program. 
The  European  Digital  Media  Observatory  (EDMO50)  2022  report51  found  that  the  problem  of 
disinformation is typically addressed by non-legislative methods in EU Member States52. Among the 
handful  of  countries  that  have  tried  to  use  a  legal  approach,  some  of  the  measures  are  still 
controversial mainly because they might affect freedom of expression. EDMO notes that countries 
registering  the  lowest  risk  levels  in  the  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  are  relying  on  media  literacy 
efforts. The report mentions examples from Finland and Estonia which show that media literacy is 
a  successful  tool  when  it  comes  to  increasing  a  society’s  resilience  to  disinformation  and 
misinformation.  EDMO  however  argues  that  in  the  context  of  coordinated  disinformation 
campaigns, media literacy campaigns cannot work as a standalone solution. 

The  implementation  of  the  Digital  Services  Act  will  create  a  more  responsible  and  transparent 
online environment in which the largest  online  platforms and search engines will need to  take 
effective  mitigating  actions  against  the  risks  related,  amongst  others,  to  the  spread  of 
disinformation.  The  DSA  notably  prescribes  VLOPs  and  VLOSEs  to  perform  an  annual  or,  where 

48 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation 
49 https://edmo.eu/ 
50 The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) is an entity independent from any national or EU public 
authority governed by an independent board composed of experts in relevant fields. It interconnects regional 
hubs,  which  leverage  their  specific  knowledge  of  local  information  environments  in  order  to  better  focus 
detection  and  analysis  of  disinformation  threats  and  trends  across  Europe.  With  a  total  investment  of  26 
million EUR the aim is to establish EDMO hubs to cover the whole EU. 
51 EDMO report ’Policies to tackle disinformation in EU member states – part 2’, July 2022 
52  The  report  zoomed  in  on  nine  EU  Member  States  which  held  elections  in  the  past  years  or  introduced 
regulations related to disinformation, concretely BU, ET, FI, FR, DE, HU, PT, SL and SK. 

21 

 
 
 
necessary, more frequent, risk assessment and to take measures that oblige the service providers 
to  adapt  their  systems  to  mitigate  the  risks,  including  amplification  of  disinformation  and  the 
spread  of  illegal  content.  This  covers  also,  for  example,  how  the  platform  is  misused  through 
inauthentic behaviours and automated exploitation of its systems. The DSA also includes a faster, 
targeted crisis response mechanism, for critical situations that pose a threat to public security or 
public health. 

Under  the  DSA,  the  designated  VLOPs  and  VLOSEs  will  have  to  put  in  place  solid  approaches  to 
content  moderation,  starting  with  clear  explanations  in  their  terms  and  conditions  for  the 
restrictions they apply to content or user accounts, providing easy to use reporting mechanisms for 
users to flag illegal content when they see it, or cooperating with trusted flaggers, such as hotlines 
for the protection of children. Platform providers will have to apply policies for suspending repeat 
infringers, but also to provide efficient complaints-handling mechanisms to users whose accounts 
or  content  was  restricted.  The  designated  VLOPs  and  VLOSEs  bear  broader  risk  management 
obligations,  not  only  limited  to  disinformation  and  illegal  content,  but  also  covering  the  sale  of 
illegal goods or services, risks to fundamental rights, protection of minors, gender-based violence 
or mental and physical well-being. While the Commission is responsible for the direct supervision 
of  very  large  online  platforms  and  search  engines,  it  is  also  engaging  in  parallel  with  Member 
States, ahead of the appointment of the independent authorities which will coordinate supervision 
and assistance, at national level and through the forthcoming advisory European Board for Digital 
Services. Member States should complete this process by 17 February 2024 at the latest. 
In terms of  media freedom  and pluralism,  I  Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) 202253  reported  an 
improvement  on  the  transparency  of  media  ownership  following  the  implementation  by  several 
Member States of EU legislation regulating the matter, namely in Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, 
Poland,  Portugal  and  Spain54.  Media  freedom  and  media  pluralism  has  effectively  become  an 
important  area  of  action  at  EU  level.  The  2020  European  Democracy  Action Plan  and  Media  and 
Audio-visual  Action  Plan  had  announced  a  series  of  initiatives  to  support  and  safeguard  media 
freedom  and  pluralism.  Besides  the  2021  Recommendation  to  Member  States  on  the  safety  of 
journalists,  the  Commission  has  adopted  in  April  2022  a  Proposal  for  a  Directive55  to  protect 
journalists and civil society organisations against abusive litigation (SLAPP). In 2021 the Commission 
adopted  the  proposal  for  a  European  Media  Freedom  Act  (EMFA),  currently  under  negotiation. 
The  objective  of  the  Act  is  to  coordinate  key  national  rules  and  approaches  on  media  pluralism 
thereby  safeguarding  the  integrity  of  the  internal  market  for  media  services  and  improving  its 
functioning. The Act should bring more legal certainty for media service providers and recipients of 
such services, in particular citizens, while safeguarding the editorial independence of providers of 
media  services,  protect  journalists  from  undue  interference  and  enhance  the  quality  of  media 
services. It will also enhance the protection of media content online. It should provide consumers 
with  access  to  a  more  diverse  range  of  quality  media  content,  therefore  contributing  to  the 

53 The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) analyses the risks to media freedom and pluralism in all Member 
States, focusing on four areas – basic protection of media freedom, market plurality, political independence 
and the social inclusiveness of media. 
54  The  European  Media  Ownership  Monitor  (EurOMo)  monitors  media  ownership  transparency  in  15 
European  countries:  Austria, Belgium,  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Finland,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Italy, 
Lithuania,  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Slovenia,  Spain,  and  Sweden.  It  provides  a  database  with  information  on 
ownership  and  control  of  the  most  relevant  news  media  in  these  countries,  but  also  publishes  country 
reports  that  assess  the  level  of  transparency  of  this  information.  The  remaining  Member  States  are  being 
analysed  in  the  second  phase  of  the  project,  which  started  in  October  2022  and  will  be  completed  in 
September 2023. 
55 Commission tackles abusive lawsuits against journalists and human rights defenders ‘SLAPPs' 

22 

 
 
 
commitment  of  this  Declaration  to  support  effective  access  to  digital  content  reflecting  the 
cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU. 

The EU and Member States committed in the Declaration to supporting the development and best 
use of digital technologies to stimulate people’s engagement and democratic participation. As an 
illustration,  reference  can  be  made  to  the  multilingual  digital  platform  which  empowered  direct 
participation  in  the  context  of  the  Conference  on  the  Future  of  Europe  in  2021-2022,  gathering 
over 17 000 citizen ideas. Note that, in November 2021, the Commission has proposed a Regulation 
on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, which aims to the proper functioning of 
the  internal  market  for  political  advertising  by  laying  down  harmonised  rules  for  a  high  level  of 
transparency of political advertising and related services. Negotiations are ongoing. When in force, 
the rules will apply to providers of political advertising services.  

As regards online harassment and violence, FRA 2021 survey showed that 13% of women and 15% 
of  men  in  the  EU-27  have  experienced  cyber  harassment  in  2019.  This  percentage  was  higher 
among people aged 16-29 (27%)56. 

Regarding  the  commitment  to  empower  individuals  to  make  free  choices  and  limiting  the 
exploitation of vulnerabilities and biases, namely through targeted advertising, the Fitness Check of 
EU consumer law on digital fairness (2022-2024) evaluates whether existing EU consumer laws are 
still  adequate  in  the  digital  area.  This  includes  an  assessment  of  all  business-to-consumer 
commercial practices that  may  distort the consumers’ choices and decision-making, such as dark 
patterns. 

Best practice 

With  regards  to  media  ownership,  the  first  edition  of  the  EurOMo’s  Risk  Report,  which  ranks 
countries according to risks for transparency in media ownership and control, noted that out of the 
fifteen EU Member States analysed, Austria and Sweden present the most favourable conditions for 
transparency in media ownership and control, followed by Denmark and Germany. In Lithuania, as 
mentioned  in  the  2022  Rule  of  Law  Report  Country  chapter57,  the  system  called  ‘VIRSIS’  provides 
data on media owners and amounts of funds obtained from public bodies. The system is rolled out 
progressively, media service providers are currently submitting their ownership data. 

When  it  comes  to  disinformation,  Finland  was  one  of  the  three  European  countries  where  the 
existing framework for countering disinformation was assessed as efficient by the Media Pluralism 
Monitor 2022 58. Finland’s strategy mainly focuses on media literacy education and self-regulatory 
measures regarding the fact-checking in the media. The European Audio-visual Observatory’s report 
on EU countries’ media literacy initiatives found that ‘the field of media literacy in Finland is wide 
and  active,  with  many  national  institutes,  as  well  as  municipalities  and  regional  and  local  actors 
involved’.  EDMO  reported  that  Slovakia  has  also  a  range  of  mostly  ex-post  measures  in  place  to 
counter  disinformation.  The  country  experienced  severe  challenges  facing  the  disinformation 
related to Covid-19 and its institutions responded in an efficient manner: the Ministry of Health led 
a  successful  and  well-designed  campaign  on  social  media,  and  the  Slovak  Police  effectively 
debunked numerous disinformation narratives.59 

56 Crime, safety, and victims’ rights – Fundamental Rights Survey (europa.eu), page 56, figure 12. 
57 2022 Rule of law report - Communication and country chapters (europa.eu) 
58 MPM2022 Results - Centre for Media Pluralism and Freedom (eui.eu) 
59 For both countries - Policies to tackle disinformation in EU member states – part 2, EDMO, 2022. 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
2.1.7  Chapter V: Safety, security and empowerment  

A protected, safe and secure digital environment  

According  to  the  2023  Eurobarometer  survey,  a  majority  of  Europeans  (56%)  consider  that  the 
principle  of  access  to  safe  and  privacy-friendly  digital  technologies  is  well  protected  in  their 
country, while about one third (32%) is of the opposite view. Furthermore, protecting users from 
cyberattacks is the first action that their country should prioritise according to 30% of respondents.  

Among  other  things,  and  complementary  to  the  objective  of  protection  against  cyberattacks 
included  in  the  Digital  decade  objectives,  the  signatories  of  the  Declaration  committed  to  take 
(further)  measures  to  promote  traceable  and  safe  products  on  the  Digital  Single  Market,  and  to 
protect  people,  businesses  and  public  institutions  against  cybersecurity  risks  and  cybercrime, 
including via cybersecurity requirements for connected products placed on the single market.  

In  September  2022,  the  Commission  proposed  the  Cyber  Resilience  Act  (CRA),  a  horizontal 
regulation  that  would  make  the  accessing  of  the  European  market  by  connectable  products, 
hardware  and  software,  conditional  upon  compliance  with  cybersecurity  requirements.  This  Act 
also  aims  to  contribute  to  further  strengthening  supply  chain  security.  European  harmonised 
standards  based  on  the  CRA  shouldfacilitate  its  implementation.  The  CRA  is  expected  to  benefit 
business  users  and  consumers  by  enhancing  the  transparency  of  the  security  properties  and 
promoting  trust  in  products  with  digital  elements,  as  well  as  by  ensuring  a  better  protection  of 
privacy  and  data  protection.  The  CRA  proposal  is  currently  being  discussed  by  the  co-legislators, 
the European Parliament and Council. 

More recently, in April 2023, the Commission also proposed a  Cyber Solidarity Act. The proposed 
Regulation notably aims to deploy a pan-European infrastructure of National Security Operations 
Centres  SOCs  (European  Cyber  Shield)  to  enhance  common  detection  and  situational  awareness 
capabilities, and to create a cyber emergency mechanism to support Member States in preparing 
and  responding  to  large-scale  cybersecurity  incidents.  Furthermore,  the  European  Cybersecurity 
Competence Centre (ECCC), established by Regulation in May 2021, opened its doors in Bucharest 
in May 2023. The ECCC aims to support innovation and industrial policy in cybersecurity as well as 
develop and coordinate  EU cybersecurity projects of  e.g.,  the Digital Europe  Programme  and the 
Horizon Europe. 

While  these  measures  should  undoubtedly 
increase  Member  States’  capacity  to  address 
cybersecurity  risks  and  incidents,  action  at  national  level  remains  essential,  for  instance  via 
measures to implement the Directive on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across 
the Union (NIS 2 Directive), which entered into force in early 2023 and notably expanded the scope 
of sectors, or via the continued implementation of the 2020 5G cybersecurity toolbox adopted by 
the NIS Cooperation Group and endorsed by the Commission. 

Best practice 

By the time of the impact assessment that accompanied the proposal for a revised Network and 
Information  Security  Directive  (NIS2),  some  Member  States  e.g.,  Estonia,  Denmark  and 
Lithuania, had already extended the list of essential services covered by network and information 
security regulations. 

Privacy and individual control over data 

Data protection and privacy are key fundamental rights  in the digital age. They are also enabling 
the protection of other fundamental rights that can be affected by unlawful surveillance, such as 
human dignity and freedom of expression. 

According to the 2023 Eurobarometer survey, a slight majority of Europeans (51%) consider that 
their  privacy  online,  i.e.,  respect  for  the  confidentiality  of communications  and  information  on 
24 

 
 
 
  
devices, is well protected, especially in Finland (72%) and Luxembourg (70%). Over one third (36%) 
believe that it is not the case.  

Getting control over one's own data, i.e., how it is used online and with whom it is shared, is not 
well protected according to four in ten (39%) of Europeans, and well protected according to less 
than  half  of  citizens  (49%).  Only  four  out  of  ten  (40%)  Europeans  believe  that  they  are  getting 
control  of  one’s  digital  legacy,  for  instance  deciding  what  happens  with  personal  accounts  and 
information after one’s death.  

The  EU  and  Member  States  committed  in  the  Declaration  to  effectively  protect  communications 
from  unauthorised  third-party  access,  prohibiting  unlawful  identification  as  well  as  unlawful 
retention of activity records.  

The control over personal data in the Union is ensured by the General Data Protection Regulation 
(GDPR). The Regulation strengthens individuals' fundamental rights in the digital age and facilitates 
business  by  clarifying  rules  for  companies  and  public  bodies  in  the  digital  single  market.  It  lays 
down clear  requirements  (e.g.  data  protection  by  design  and  by  default)  that must  be  respected 
whenever personal data are processed. It also lays down rights to allow control by individuals over 
the application of these rules, including the right to access personal data and the right to request 
erasure. In July 2023, the Commission proposed additional procedural rules for public authorities 
when applying the GDPR in cases which affect individuals located in more than one Member State, 
in order to provide quicker remedies.  

The  ePrivacy  Directive  already  provides  for  some  protection  of  the  confidentiality  of 
communications  and  related  traffic  as  well  as  the  user’s  terminal  equipment  (e.g.  PC, 
smartphones). Concretely, it prohibits listening, tapping, storage or other kinds of interception or 
surveillance of communications and the related traffic data by persons other than users, without 
the  consent  of the  users  concerned,  except  when  legally  authorised  to  do  so  in  accordance  with 
the  Directive.  In  addition,  the  ePrivacy  Directive  protects  information  stored  in  the  terminal 
equipment.  Moreover,  traffic  data  must  be  erased  or  made  anonymous  when  it  is  no  longer 
needed  for  the  transmission  of  a  communication.  The  proposed  ePrivacy  Regulation  aims  to 
strengthen and clarify such protections.  

According to the 2021 Annual Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights 
‘Protecting Fundamental Rights in the Digital Age’, this strong EU legal framework is often put to 
the test in practice by digital technologies development e.g. seeking use of biometric identification 
and seeking to reduce effect of privacy-preserving technologies such as encryption. However, the 
data protection authorities and national courts are seeking to ensure effective remedies wherever 
surveillance measures both by private and public actors constitute a breach of fundamental rights. 

In the Declaration, the EU and Member States have also undertaken to ensure effective control of 
personal  and  non-personal  data  in  line  with  EU  data  protection  rules  and  relevant  rules.  The 
proposed  European  Digital  Identity  Framework  aims  to  offer  EU  citizens  and  residents,  on  a 
voluntary  basis,  a  trusted  and  secure  digital  wallet  under  full  user  control  as  a  ‘self-sovereign’ 
enabler  of  access  to  digital  public  and  privates  services  and  to  share  a  variety  of  attributes  and 
credentials. 

The  EU  and Member  States  also  undertook  to  ensure  effectively  the  possibility  for  individuals  to 
easily  move  their  personal  and  non-personal  data  between  different  digital  services  in  line  with 
portability rights. The 2022 Proposal for the Data Act gives users of connected devices the right to 
‘access and port’ both personal and non-personal data collected or generated by such devices. In 
addition, the Data  Governance  Act  has recently put in place rules  on e.g.,  data intermediaries or 
data altruism organisations, to increase trust in data sharing and help individuals make use of their 
data. 

25 

 
 
 
Best practice  

In France, the Data Protection Authority (CNIL) has issued a series of decisions against companies 
that  were  found  in  breach  of  the  rules  on  free  and  informed  consent  under  the  GDPR  and 
ePrivacy Directive, including for placing tracking cookies used for advertising purposes on laptops 
and mobile phones.. According to Union law, the methods of providing consent should be as user-
friendly  as  possible.  However,  it  is  for  the  competent  national  authorities  to  assess  whether  a 
practice is compliant with the relevant provisions. The specific requirement by CNIL for companies 
to have in place measures that allow refusing cookies as easily as accepting them is included in 
the CNIL Recommendations. 

Protection and empowerment of children and young people in the digital environment 

Protection  of  children  and  young  people  online  is  a  topic  that  Europeans  are  the  most  worried 
about, as shown by the Special Eurobarometer survey. Only 45% of Europeans consider that their 
country is ensuring safe digital environment and content for children and young people. Overall, 
more  than  four  out  of  ten  (43%)  are  worried  about  the  safety  of  children  online,  mostly  in 
Sweden (63%) and Greece (60%). 

The Declaration provides that children and young people should be empowered to make safe and 
informed  choices  and  express  their  creativity  in  the  digital  environment,  have  access  to 
age-appropriate  materials  and  services,  while  being  protected  from  crimes  committed  via  or 
facilitated  through  digital  technologies.  It  includes  several  commitments  in  this  respect,  from 
providing education to navigating the digital environment, through protecting children and young 
people from harmful and illegal content, exploitation, manipulation and abuse online,, to involving 
them in the development or digital policies that concern them. 

Children’s  use  of  digital  technologies  has  changed  dramatically  with  modern  devices  used  to 
interact, play and share with others, often without parental supervision. Children aged 10-18 years 
old spend in average more than 6 hours on screen on typical weekday. Additionally, children are 
now  more  active  and  independent  digital  consumers,  often  using  digital  products  and  services 
designed for adults. They are exposed to or targeted by a range of online marketing techniques.  

Consequently,  harmful  and  illegal  content,  conduct,  contacts  and  consumer  risks  are  frequently 
present  for  children  online.  Digital  services,  from  social  media  to  interactive  games,  can  expose 
children to risks such as unsuitable content, bullying, grooming, child sexual abuse or radicalisation.  

One  in  three  children  surveyed  across  19  European  countries  reported  being  exposed  to  sexual 
images  both  on  and  offline  in  201960,  and  one  in  three  girls  surveyed  across  the  EU  reported 
experiencing  disturbing content  online once  a month in 202061. Data collected by the  EU funded 
Safer Internet Centres (SIC) helplines shows significant increases in the number of people seeking 
help/advice  between  2021  and  2022  on  sextortion  (+60%),  online  reputation62  (+32%)  and  e-
crime63 (+30%). As of 2022, 60% of all contacts were made by children aged between 12 and 18, 

60  EU  Kids  Online  comparative  report  2020  on  countries:  Switzerland,  Czech  Republic,  Germany,  Estonia, 
Spain,  Finland,  France,  Croatia,  Italy,  Lithuania,  Malta,  Norway,  Poland,  Portugal,  Romania,  Servia,  Russia, 
Slovakia, Flanders, age-range: 9-16 y/o; 
61 ChildFund Alliance, Eurochild, Save The Children, UNICEF, World Vision, report Our Europe, Our Rights, Our 
Future, on countries across Europe, age-range 11-17 y/o 
62  Including  terrorism,  online  prostitution,  drugs,  eating  disorders,  self-harm,  etc.  Including  calls  related  to 
sites promoting suicide and explaining ways to commit suicide. 
63 E.g., identity theft, fraud, data theft, copyright infringement, hacking, piracy, etc. 

26 

 
 
  
 
and  almost  7.5%  from  children  aged  between  5  and  11,  reflecting  that children  are  going  online 
and experiencing difficulties at an ever earlier age64. 

The  2022  Strategy  for  a  better  internet  for  kids  (BIK+)  promotes  safe  digital  experiences,  digital 
empowerment,  and  active  participation,  respecting  children  by  giving  them  a  say  in  the  digital 
environment,  with  more  child-led  activities  to  foster  innovative  and  creative  safe  digital 
experiences.  

Through BIK+, the Commission proposes a series of ambitious and far-reaching actions to build on 
and reinforce the existing infrastructure. Ten years after the original BIK strategy and founded on 
including  children  and  young  people 
extensive  consultation  with  multiple  stakeholders  - 
themselves - this new strategy frames the steps needed to ensure that no child is left behind in the 
digital transformation. 

This  flagship  initiative  of  the  European  Year  of  Youth  2022,  sets  out  commitments  for  the 
Commission and recommendations for Member States and industry around three pillars:  

1.  Safe digital experiences to protect children from harmful and illegal online content, conduct, 

contact and consumer risks;  

2.  Digital empowerment so all children acquire the necessary skills and competences to make 
sound choices and express themselves in the online environment safely and responsibly;  

3.  Active  participation,  respecting  children  by  giving  them  a  say  in  the  digital  environment, 

with more child-led activities to foster innovative and creative safe digital experiences.  

The implementation of BIK+ requires cooperation and coordination at European and international 
level and involvement of Member States, industry, civil society and users themselves.  

The  Better  internet  for  kids  (BIK)  platform  and the  EU  funded  network of  national  Safer  internet 
centres (SICs) are crucial in implementing the BIK+ strategy65. Their actions help children and offer 
a wealth of resources and support for parents, teachers, and citizens in general. As an illustration, 
an online roundtable on child and youth consumer protection in digital  markets was organised in 
202266. 

Throughout 2022, more than 31 million European citizens were reached, providing them with more 
than 1 300 new resources. Dedicated resources and activities were also organised for those directly 
affected by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. On the way towards the target of 20 million ICT specialists 
and  minimum  80%  population  with  basic  digital  skills,  the  network  organises  media  literacy 
campaigns  and  activities  fostering  digital  skills  complementing  formal  education  at  national, 
regional and local level.  

Upcoming new features on BIK platform such as a BIK Parent corner, BIK+ Knowledge hub and BIK 
MOOC in the BIK Teacher corner will contribute to a vision of having a digitally skilled population 
and highly skilled digital professionals.  

The  Fitness  Check  of  EU  consumer  law  on  digital  fairness  (2022-2024),  which  evaluates  whether 
existing  EU  consumer  laws  are  still  adequate  in  the  digital  area,  includes  an  assessment  of 

64 BIK Helpline Observatory: 31st Quarterly Report October - December 2022. 
https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu/practice/helplines/article?id=7062577  
65 The Better Internet for Kids annual reports survey the activities and achievements of the EU funded 
network of Safer Internet Centres supporting child online protection and empowerment in Member States, 
provide relevant information on the various commitments included in the Declaration. The latest one is 
available is the Better Internet for Kids annual report 2022. The 2023 Report will be published in May. The 
implementation of the BIK strategy in the Member States is monitored in the BIK policy Map. 
66 This work continues under DIGITAL, including a number of new large-scale awareness-raising actions and 
campaigns with close collaboration between the SICs and the European Consumer Centres.) 

27 

 
 
 
commercial  practices  targeted  at  children,  e.g.  interface  design  and  personalisation  practices  in 
video games and social media. 

The 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA) includes specific provisions on protection of minors, including 
regarding  targeted  advertising.  The  platform  providers  concerned  will  have  to  redesign  their 
systems  to  ensure  a  high  level  of  privacy,  security,  and  safety  of  minors;  exclude  targeted 
advertising  based  on  profiling  towards  children  is  no  longer  permitted;  provide  for  special  risk 
assessments including for negative effects on mental health; and redesign their services, including 
their  interfaces,  recommender  systems,  terms  and  conditions,  to  mitigate  these  risks.  The 
horizontal framework for online services set out in the DSA is complemented by the sector specific 
provisions of the Audio-visual Media Services Directive, which imposes an obligation on providers 
of video-sharing platforms to put in place appropriate measures to protect minors from illegal and 
harmful content.  

Moreover, work on the Code of conduct on age-appropriate design which builds on the framework 
provided in the DSA will start in 2023. Strong engagement from industry will be necessary for the 
initiative to reinforce the protection of children when using digital products.  

This complements specific requirements under the GDPR for processing of children’s data that the 
data  protection  authorities  are  upholding67,  such  as  requiring  parental  consent  for  processing 
information  of  children  under  a  certain  age  by  information  society  services  (e.g.  social  media, 
video-streaming or gaming platforms) or providing privacy notices in a child-friendly manner. The 
European Data Protection Board EDPB has made work on the guidelines for processing of children’s 
data one of their key priorities in 2023 - 202468. 

Regarding  skills,  the  Commission  adopted  Guidelines  to  help  teachers  and  educators  promote 
digital  literacy  and address  disinformation  through  education and  training  in  October 2022.  They 
are available in all EU languages and designed for primary and secondary teachers with or without 
specialist  knowledge  of  digital  education.  In  addition,  the  SELFIE  for  TEACHERS  online  tool, 
supports primary and secondary teachers in assessing their digital skills and in identifying ways to 
support student digital literacy. 

Finally, youth participation in digital policies has long been a priority of EU youth programmes such 
as Erasmus+,  as is digital transformation. Mainstreaming youth participation was  also among the 
objectives of the 2022 European Year of Youth (EYY)69, and digital was one of the nine policy areas 
of the European Year of Youth70.  

Best practice 

When  it  comes  to  providing  opportunities  to  children  and  young  people  to  acquire  the  necessary 
digital  skills  and  competences,  in  Poland,  NASK  and  partners  from  Latvia  and  Romania  (Latvian 
Internet Association and Save the Children Romania) launched a two-year project in 2022, Make it 
clear - educating young people against disinformation online, supported under the Creative Europe 

67  See  for  example  Irish  Data  Protection  decision  to  issue  EUR  405  million  fine  against  Instagram  and 
upcoming decision against TikTok for processing of children data. 
68 EDPB work programme 2023-2024 . 
69 More than 470 events involved youth participation were organised throughout 2022 during the European 
Year of Youth. The Safer Internet Forum, a key annual international conference, was also youth-led in 2022 
with on site and remote participation from more than 70 countries across and beyond the EU. 
70  Commission  initiatives  and  opportunities  for  young  people  in  this  area  were  published  on  the  European 
Youth Portal and its EYY page. The development of digital policies and opportunities was a topic of discussion 
in many  Policy Dialogues with Commissioners, which  took  place in the framework of the European Year of 
Youth. Starting in 2022 and until February 2023, each member of the College of Commissioners invited 12-15 
young people to take part in a policy dialogue. 

28 

 
 
 
 
Programme. In Estonia, there has been an increase in initiatives which are aimed at promoting the 
positive  use  of  the  internet  and  encouraging  children’s  creativity.  For  example,  kindergarten 
teachers  are  actively  creating  online  content  for  children  to  play  and  learn.  A  new  platform  for 
children aged 7-12 has been initiated with funding from the Education and Youth Board. 

2.1.8  Chapter VI: Sustainability 

The  Declaration  promotes  digital  products  and  services  with  a  minimum  negative  impact  on  the 
environment  and  on  society,  as  well  as  digital  solutions  with  a  positive  impact  on  the 
environment. This aligns with the perception of two thirds (66%) of Europeans, who think digital 
technologies  will  play  a  crucial  role  in  fighting  climate  change  (Special  Eurobarometer  survey). 
Moreover, the Declaration provides that access to accurate and easy-to-understand information on 
environmental impact and energy consumption should be available to everyone.  
The  2023  Berlin  Declaration  Monitoring  report71  shows  only  slow  progress  on  fostering 
sustainability, with significant potential for improvement on evaluating the environmental impacts 
of ICT and establishing a strategy aimed at expanding the lifespan of digital equipment, on which 
Member  States  score  54%  compared  to  49%  in  2021.  There  is  also  room  for  improvement  on 
assessing  and  making  transparent  the  energy  sources  and  consumption  of  digital  tools  and 
infrastructures  as  well  as  ways  to  improve  their  efficiency,  with  an  EU  average  score  of  65%  in 
2022.  According  to  the  Special  Eurobarometer  survey,  a  little  less  than  half  of  Europeans  (48%) 
consider  that  they  are getting  access  to  digital  products  and services that  minimise  damage to 
the  environment  and  society  (e.g.,  products  and  services  that  can  be  repaired  or  recycled,  and 
which  do  not  involve  forced  labour),  with  the  exception  of  almost  two  thirds  of  citizens  from 
Ireland (65%), Poland (65%) and Italy (64%). Over a third (34%) thinks the opposite.  

Interestingly, a little more than half of Europeans (51%) believe that the principle of getting access 
to  the  right  information  on  the  environmental  impact  and  energy  consumption  of  digital 
technologies  is  well  protected  in  their  country,  while  a  third  considers  it  is  not  well  protected, 
including half of citizens from Sweden (50%) and almost a half in the Netherlands (46%). 

The  March  2022  Proposal  for  a  new  Eco-design  for  Sustainable  Products  Regulation,  currently  in 
legislative negotiation, is an important part of the Commission’s approach to more environmentally 
sustainable and circular products. The regulation introduces a Digital Product Passport which aims 
to  support  data  capture  and  sharing  to  enhance  product  sustainability,  transparency,  and,  to 
enable  sustainable  business  models,  e.g.,  Product-as-a-Service.  This  is  an  example  of  how 
digitalisation will support businesses and consumers in their green transition. A project funded by 
the Digital Europe Programme, the Digital Product Passport CIRPASS, aims to provide information 
about the environmental sustainability of products. It should help consumers and businesses make 
informed  purchasing  choices,  facilitate  repairs  and  recycling  and  improve  transparency  about 
product  life  cycle  impacts  on  the  environment.  The  product  passport  should  also  help  public 
authorities to better perform checks and controls. A call for large scale pilot to be funded under by 
the Digital Europe programme has been published in May 2023.  

The  March  2023  Commission  Proposal  for  a  Directive  on  common  rules  promoting  the  repair  of 
goods seeks to facilitate and promote e.g. the repair of digital products such as mobile phones and 
tablets. 

The  WBA’s  Digital  Inclusion  Benchmark  2023    also  noted  a  challenge  regarding  the  effective 
emission disclosure by some companies. In particular, certain companies appear to be only listing 

71  Report  on  the  monitoring  of  the  Berlin  Declaration,  Directorate  General  for  Informatics,  European 
Commission, June 2023 

29 

 
 
  
 
the lower market-based figure and not their actual location-based emissions - while international 
standards call for both to be disclosed. 
Besides  Commission  studies72,  a  number  of  recent  initiatives  aim  to  contribute  to  achieve 
climate-neutral,  highly  energy-efficient  and  sustainable  data  centres:  the  Energy  Efficiency 
Directive requires that, from May 2024 onwards, data centre operators report to the Commission a 
set of indicators on data centres’ energy performance (which the Commission is finalising by way of 
a Delegated Act)73.  

The  EU  and  MS  committed  in  the  Declaration  to  incentivising  sustainable  consumer  choices  and 
business models and fostering sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global 
value  chains  of  digital  products  and  services,  including  with  a  view  to  combating  forced  labour. 
Note  in  this  respect  the  Corporate  Sustainability  Reporting  Directive  (CSRD),  which  entered  into 
force  in  January  2023.  This  new  Directive  modernises  and  strengthens  the  rules  concerning  the 
social and environmental information that companies have to report.  

Best practice 

Since  2022,  Denmark  has  implemented  standardised  product  data  on  environmental  labels  in 
e-procurement, which allows suppliers and procurers, both public and private, to inform each other 
about  labelled  products  and  services  in  a  digitally  structured  manner.  The  aim  is  to  increase  the 
quality of data on labelled products and services in procurement and thereby support the ambition 
to measure and set goals for labelled procurement in the public and private sector. This is supposed 
to be a first step to ensure that the digital infrastructure contributes to a sustainable circular and 
climate-neutral  economy  and  society  while  minimising  administrative  burdens  on  business  facing 
various  new  green  and  sustainable  data  reporting  requirements.  Latvia  has  also  developed  a 
National Digital Strategy (Digital Transformation Guidelines  2021-2027) which includes  provisions 
on resource and energy efficiency. The strategy notes that the use of digital technologies must be 
sustainable  and  energy-efficient  and  puts  forward  actions  to  promote  the  development  of  a 
sustainable digital infrastructure74. 

2.2  Digital Decade objectives: sovereignty, resilience and competitiveness  

The  digital  transformation  anchored  in  the  Digital  Decade  Policy  Programme  includes  general 
objectives  that  seek  to  foster  the  development  of  infrastructures,  to  spur  growth  and  foster  the 
modernisation  of  the  EU’s  economy,  opening  new  business  opportunities,  enhancing  the 
productivity  of  the  EU  industry,  ensuring  that  competitiveness  benefits  are  widely  spread  across 
society by reducing divides and consumer prices and helping gain a competitive advantage on the 
global markets.  

Digital  technologies,  infrastructures,  services,  and  skills  are  indeed  an  essential  factor  of 
competitiveness  and resilience  for the whole EU economy and society, ultimately  reinforcing the 

72 E.g., Study on Greening cloud computing and electronic communications services and networks: towards 
climate neutrality by 2050 (March 2022); Study on Greening cloud computing and electronic communications 
services and networks: towards climate neutrality by 2050 (March 2022). 
73 Note as well the 2021 Code of Conduct of the Joint Research Centre on energy efficient data centres, which 
sets the (maximum) electricity consumption for broadband equipment sold in the EU and manufactured or 
procured by participating companies. 
74 Latvian National Digital Strategy (Digital Transformation Guidelines 2021-2027), page 73, 4.4.4: “Digital 
transformation of geospatial, environmental management and development planning”. 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
European sovereignty in the digital field75. It is estimated that completing the Digital Decade could 
bring in EUR 2.8 trillion additional GDP for the EU by 203076. 

Box: Examples of benefits from the digitalisation of industrial ecosystems 

A  highly  digitalised  industry  of  the  future  is  enabling  to  produce  more  smartly,  more  efficiently, 
more  quickly,  safer,  and  cleaner.  The  productivity  of  companies  already  investing  in  data-driven 
innovation  and  data  analytics  grows  approximately  5%  -  10%  faster  than  that  of  companies  not 
investing77. In a not so far future, means of production will be able to self-regulate and self-monitor, 
consistently  reducing  the  risk  of  random  events  and  delays  and  enabling  on-demand 
manufacturing, reducing the costs generated by unsold stock. Robots will increase the productivity 
of  operators  and  improve their  safety  by  taking  up  risky tasks. 3D  printing  will allow  to  maintain 
and repair all industrial goods locally and at a lower cost. 

Digital  technologies  such  as  AI,  IoT,  cloud  and  edge  computing  or  5G  networks  are  leading  the 
digital transformation of the mobility sector. Autonomous vehicles, robotic taxis, connected lorries, 
driverless  delivery  systems,  and  new  mobility  services  enabled  by  digital  platforms  are  changing 
how  we  move.  Connected  and  Automated  Mobility  (CAM)  can  make  roads,  railways,  and 
waterways  safer,  enhance  efficiency,  reduce  congestion,  and  lower  gas  emissions.  Mobility  as  a 
Service  (MaaS)  can  help  to  decarbonise  transportation,  allow  seamless  multimodal  travel,  and 
facilitate access to greener alternatives. 

In agriculture, the Internet of Things (IoT) allows for the collection of real-time geo-spatial data on 
environmental and machine conditions, precision farming techniques and the remote monitoring of 
crops  and  livestock.  Cloud  and  edge  computing,  AI,  and  IoT  technologies  optimise  water  usage, 
accurately spread seeds and fertilisers, and reduce the need for harmful pesticides. 

Disruptive  technologies  promise  to  make  transformative  impacts  in  the  healthcare  and  pharma 
sectors.  The  EU  is  a  leader  in  healthcare,  and  e-health  and  the  digitalisation  of  healthcare  offer 
opportunities  for  our  industry  to  consolidate  their  competitive  positions  and  innovate  into  more 
efficient,  reliable  and  cost-effective  solutions  that  support  healthy  long  living.  Two  of  the  largest 
current disruptors are artificial intelligence and, in the near future, quantum computing, which have 
seen applications from diagnostics to drug discovery and data management and processing. 

In the financial sector, technologies such as quantum, blockchain and AI algorithms mitigate cyber 
risk and reduce fraud attempts, enable portfolio optimisation and reduce transaction delays. 

The Digital Decade objectives  include  notably  the  general  objective  to  empower a more  digitally 
sovereign,  resilient,  and  competitive  Union.  Digital  sovereignty  refers  to  our  ability  to  act 
independently  in  the  digital  world  and  therefore  it  constitutes  a  crucial  means  to  safeguard  our 
values. Digital sovereignty covers among others the following elements: 

-  The concrete means to ensure the resilience of the Union’s digital supply chains; 

-  The ability to innovate and develop digital technologies, services and infrastructures without 
being bound by design choices made elsewhere and that do not reflect our European values; 

-  The  capacity  to  develop  secure,  sovereign  and  accessible  digital  infrastructures  that  can 

efficiently store, transmit, and process vast amounts of data;.  

75 Communication Long-term competitiveness_0.pdf (europa.eu) 
76 Publicfirst 2022, Unlocking Europe’s digital potential. 
77 OECD (2015). Data-driven innovation: big data for growth and well-being, OECD Publishing, Paris.  

31 

 
 
 
 
 
-  A  strong  manufacturing  digital  sector  in  the  EU  with  strategic  know-how  and  building 
synergies between the different stages of production, while responding to a political demand 
for more high-quality jobs and growth78;  

-  A policy and regulatory framework that supports the competitiveness and sustainability of the 

Union’s industry and economy in the long term, and;  

-  A broad access to global markets.  

Achieving  these  objectives  requires  a  strong  coordination  across  policy  and  private  and  public 
investments. This chapter takes stock of progress made so far and presents an outlook of the policy 
measures taken at the EU level. 

2.2.1  Technological leadership to support EU’s future digital transformation 

The  success  of  EU’s  digital  transformation  will  be  notably  determined  by  the  European 
ecosystem’s  capacity  to  foster  the  rise  of  global  digital  players  that  will  design  tomorrow’s 
business  models  and  shape  digital  technologies  and  applications  which  embeds  European  values 
and contribute to EU’s interests. 

This is all the more important in a rapidly changing geopolitical context, against the backdrop of a 
fragmentation  of  the  global  economy79  and  the  war  in  Ukraine.  Digital  technologies  are  at  the 
centre  of  geostrategic tensions  and of  an  intensifying  technological  race, where  speed  and  scale 
play a critical role to gain and maintain leading positions in the future global economy. Systemic 
digital  innovation  such  as  generative  AI  which  brings  the  potential  for  spill  over  effects  on  most 
economic  sectors  will  give  a  further  edge  to  established  business  leaders  of  the  global  digital 
ecosystem. 

The  EU  is  lagging  behind  in  the  ICT  race,  with  most  of  the  technologies  needed  for  the  digital 
transformation  of  Europe  being  designed  and  manufactured  in  third  countries.  Despite  the 
essential nature of the ICT industry for our sovereignty and competitiveness, and to better respond 
to  economic  and  societal  challenges,  the  global  share  of  EU  GDP  in  the  ICT  market  has  kept 
decreasing  significantly  from  21.8%  in  2013  to  11.3%  in  2022.80  Currently,  the  EU  depends  on 
foreign  countries  for  over  80%  of  digital  products,  services,  infrastructures,  and  intellectual 
property. This growing dependency is illustrated for example by the fact that the EU is dependent 
for 75-90% of semiconductor production on Asia81. 

Box EIB 2023 survey: deep tech innovation in smart connected technologies: EU-US comparison for 
SMEs 

SMEs  in  the  United  States  make  a  higher  contribution  to  innovation  in  Fourth  Industrial 
Revolution (4IR) technologies than SMEs in the EU, adding to the overall leadership of the US in 
advanced digital technologies. 4IR has massively accelerated the process of digital transformation. 
Technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) 
are  already  altering  the  way  we  live,  work  and  interact.  There  are  twice  as  many  SMEs  with  an 
international  portfolio  of  4IR  patents  in  the  US  than  in  the  EU.  EU  SMEs  contributed  10%  of 
international patent families (IPFs) in 4IR technologies invented in the EU, while US SMEs accounted 
for 16% of their country’s contribution. Over 90% of th’ EU's 4IR SMEs have already implemented 
their 4IR technologies in applications spanning the healthcare, transport and cleantech sectors, as 

78 Foreign Affairs, China’s hidden Tech revolution, volume 102, number 2, March 2023 
79 ECB – speech of Christine Lagarde, New York, 17 April 2023. 
80 ICT global market share by country 2022 | Statista 
81 Digital Industrial Policy for Europe - CERRE 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
well as  data analytics. 4IR SMEs  are more likely (44%) to be involved in manufacturing hardware 
products than other SMEs.  

More  than  every  second  4IR  SME  in  the  EU  sees  its  future  primary  market  in  Europe.  Although 
32% of EU SMEs are still focused primarily on operations in their home country, the majority, 57%, 
sees its future primary market in Europe, as also reflected in the geographical scope of their patent 
portfolios. A quarter of European 4IR SMEs regard the US as their future primary market (24% of 
EU).  This  proportion  rises  to  38%  among  European  4IR  SMEs  that  are  dominant  players  in  their 
market. 

Europe is still underinvesting in research and innovation as compared to its global competitors, 
despite being a scientific powerhouse and despite the increasing performance of the EU innovation 
system by 9.9 percentage points over between 2015 and 2022. The EU faces challenges in catching 
up with the US and China in the level of investments relative to their GDP. This correlates with a 
secondary position of the EU in the development of several critical technologies when compared to 
China or the US. The EU’s current R&I expenditure as a percentage of GDP is 2.32% of GDP (2020)82, 
at the risk of falling short of the 3% EU target by 2030 and lagging behind the US (3.45% of GDP in 
2020) and China (2.4% of GDP)83. Overall, the US R&I spending are almost the double of EU’s (EUR 
620 bn against 330 bn) with a gap of 330 bn every year. In addition, when it comes to the capacity 
to innovate, as well as to digital capabilities and industries, there are still important and  growing 
disparities  between  EU  Member  States84  85  86.  The  R&D 2022  scoreboard  shows  that  US  private 
companies’ investments are between three times and ten times larger than European ones87. For 
instance,  the US and China together account for over 80% of the  EUR  25  billion of annual equity 
investments in AI and blockchain technologies, while the EU 27 only accounts for 7% of this global 
amount, investing around EUR 1.75 billion. 

82 Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) | Data (worldbank.org) 
83 Top countries by R&D expenditure 2022 | Statista 
84 European innovation scoreboard (europa.eu) 
85 How to close Europe’s digital divide? (brookings.edu) 
86 Europe 4.0: Addressing Europe's Digital Dilemma (worldbank.org) 
87 Among the 2500 companies investing in R&D in the world, R&D investment in ICT products and ICT services 
have seen their share diminishing sharply between 2012 and 2021 reaching only 30% of US investments for 
the former and 10% for the latter.  

33 

 
 
 
 
Figure 2 - EU-US comparison of R&D investment in 2012 and 2021, by sector 

EU venture capital investment is still far from the levels observed in the US and in China. Among 
the  leading  companies  in  software  and  internet,  EU  firms  only  represent  7%  in  global  R&D 
expenditure, compared to 71% for the US, 15% for China and 3% for Japan and South Korea. The 
gap in financing disruptive innovation and start-ups is far from closing. EUR 41 billion was invested 
in  Europe's  start-up  ecosystem  in  2020,  against  EUR  141  billion  in  the  US  and  EUR  74  billion  in 
China.  Europe  features  a  substantially  lower  number  of  deep  techs  scale-ups,  and  scale-up 
financing  lags  behind  financing  for  start-ups.88  Innovation  made  in  Europe  is  not  sufficiently 
brought  to  EU  market,  notably  because  of  insufficient  risk  capital  supporting  the  growth  of 
European  scale  up  proposing  new  services  and  contribute  to  the  growth  of  the  ICT  sector. 
Bridging the scale-up gap and supporting deep-tech innovation is essential to foster the EU global 
competitiveness,  complete the  green and digital transitions and ensure growth and well-being in 
Europe. 89  

Building a scale-up ecosystem require also on the successful nurturing, attraction, and retention of 
talented  individuals  with  a  diverse  array  of  skills.  High-quality  education  and  attractive  working 
conditions are key to ensuring a flow of highly skilled and talented individuals that can contribute 
to achieving the digital transformation, and a competitive edge in strategic value chains90. It also 
requires  to  better  coordinate  policy  measures  dedicated  to  the  European  digital  ecosystem 
development, notably strategic public procurement, deepening of single market and trade policy 
so to ensure that market forces benefit the scaling-up of European actors91. 

88 Nurturing deep-tech unicorns in the EU – CEPS 
89 EUR-Lex - 52022DC0332 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu) 
90 EUR-Lex - 52022DC0332 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu) 
91 Support measures that amount to State aid must comply with the applicable State aid rules. References in 
the present State of the digital decade report 2023 Decade to support measures that may amount to State 
aid do not in any way pre-judge a State aid assessment. 

34 

 
 
 
 
Against this background, the New European Innovation Agenda92 adopted on 5 July 2022 aims to 
position the EU at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation and up-ups. It will help 
the EU to develop new technologies to address the most pressing societal challenges, and to bring 
them on the market. It will do so by focusing on five areas for action: 

- 

- 

Funding scale-ups, mobilising institutional and other private  investors in the EU to invest  in, 
and benefit from the scaling of EU deep-tech start-ups; 

Enabling innovation through experimentation spaces and public procurement; 

-  Accelerating and strengthening innovation in European Innovation Ecosystems across the EU 

and addressing the innovation divide; 

- 

- 

Fostering,  attracting,  and  retaining  talents  through  a  series  of  initiatives,  including  an 
innovation intern scheme for start-ups and scale-ups, an EU talent pool to help start-ups and 
innovative businesses find non-EU talent, a women entrepreneurship and leadership scheme, 
and a pioneer work on start-up employees’ stock options; 

Improving  policy-making  tools  to  develop  and  use  robust  and  comparable  datasets  and 
shared definitions (e.g., start-ups, scale-ups) that can inform policies at all levels across the EU 
and for ensuring better policy coordination and the EU level through the European Innovation 
Council Forum. 

2.2.2  Strengthening EU’s digital ecosystem resilience 

One  of  the  key  lessons  of  the  COVID-19  crisis  is  that  there  is  a  need  for  a  better  analysis  and 
monitoring  of  the  strategic  value  and  supply  chains  to  address  dependencies  and  build  up 
resilience.  This  involves  to  undertake  a  review  of  critical  materials  underlying  the  digital  supply 
chain;  to  foster  manufacturing  capabilities  or  other  essential  capabilities  that  are  necessary  to 
producing  goods  in  the  digital  supply  chain;  to  identify  risk  factors  that  may  impact  the  supply 
chain by disrupting it, compromising it, or eliminating it (e.g., defence, intelligence, cyber, security, 
health,  climate,  environmental,  natural,  market,  economic,  geopolitical,  human  rights,  or  forced-
labour risks); to monitor the dynamics of global key players in the digital supply chain ecosystem; 
existing  international  partnerships;  any  executive,  legislative,  regulatory  and  policy  changes, 
internal and external, which may impact the resilience of the digital supply chain. 

2.2.2.1  Critical Raw Materials supply chain 

Disruption in the supply of essential goods during the COVID-19 crisis and the energy crisis sparked 
by Russia’s war of aggression against  Ukraine  have  highlighted the  central importance of critical 
raw  materials  for  the  green  and  digital  transitions,  and  for  defence  and  space  applications.  A 
disruption in their supply would have significant adverse effects for  the EU industry, jeopardising 
the functioning of the Single Market and risking damaging the EU’s competitiveness, while putting 
at stake jobs and job creation and affecting working conditions and wages. In addition, without a 
secure supply of critical raw materials, the Union will not be able to meet its objective for a green 
and digital future. 
Since  2011, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)  93  94  has been analysing the availability 
and importance  of critical raw  materials for various strategic technologies and sectors in the EU, 
assessing the related supply risks, considering the geopolitical context and market developments. 

92 The New European Innovation Agenda (europa.eu) 
93 JRC assesses critical raw materials for Europe’s green and digital future (europa.eu) 
94 CRMs_for_Strategic_Technologies_and_Sectors_in_the_EU_2020.pdf (europa.eu) 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
The findings of their analysis contribute to the Commission’s list of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)95 
which  supports  the  EU  in  negotiating  trade  agreements,  challenging  trade  distortions  and  in 
programming the research and innovation funding under Horizon Europe.  

The latest report, “Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) for Strategic Technologies and Sectors in the EU 
-  2023”96,  investigates  the  supply  chains  of  digital  goods  such  as  smartphones,  tablets,  laptops, 
data server and storage equipment and data transmission network equipment. Across those value 
chains, there are supply risks at all stages, from the poorly diversified production of certain critical 
raw  materials  (e.g.,  rare  earths,  platinum  group  metals  and  noble  gases)  to  the  EU’s  limited 
manufacturing  capacity  of  highly  strategic  processed  materials  and  components  (e.g.,  advanced 
logic and memory semiconductor chips).  

The  EU  relies  almost  exclusively  on  imports  for  most  critical  raw  materials.  Suppliers  of  those 
imports are often highly concentrated in a small number of third countries, both at the extraction 
and  processing  stage.  For  example,  the  EU  sources  97%  of  its  magnesium  in  China.  Heavy  rare 
earth elements, used in permanent magnets, are exclusively refined in China. 63% of the world's 
cobalt, used in batteries, is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while 60% is refined in 
China.  

The exposure of the EU economy to geopolitical risks is high for many critical raw materials. Such 
risks derive from trade distortions (such as those enacted by countries like China, which accounts 
for  the  majority  of  the  world’s  production  of  rare  earths,  gallium,  germanium,  aluminium, 
antimony, bismuth, indium, lithium, magnesium, phosphorus and silicon metal), from major social, 
health, and environmental problems arising from unsustainable artisanal mining practices (such as 
in  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo,  where  most  cobalt  used  in  LCO  batteries  for  powering 
smartphones,  tablets  and  laptops  is  produced);  from  labour  market  disputes  in  South  Africa 
regarding platinum-group metal (PGM) mines; or directly from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as in 
the case of noble gases, useful for the production of semiconductors97. 

This  situation  calls  for  a  comprehensive  and  coordinated  strategy  aimed  at  ensuring  the 
availability  and  sustainable  supply  of  CRMs  in  the  EU.  This  would  have  to  include  measures  to 
stress-test  the  supply  chains  to  assess  their  resilience,  to  diversify  supply  sources,  promotes 
resource  efficiency,  encourages  circular  economy  practices,  and  to  incentivise  EU  research  to 
develop alternatives to CRMs. 

The  European  Raw  Materials  Alliance  (ERMA),  set  up  as  part  of  the  Action  Plan  on  Critical  Raw 
Materials  in  2020,  is  entirely  dedicated  to  addressing  the  challenges  affecting  specific  raw 
materials  value  chains  (e.g.,  concentrated  global  markets,  investment  and  innovation  barriers 
and/or  transparency and sustainability issues), ultimately securing EU’s access to sustainable raw 
materials, advanced materials, and industrial processing know-how.  

However,  another  important  step  towards  a  more  strategic  approach  to  critical  raw  materials  at 
the EU level is represented by the Proposal for a Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act which aims to 
ensure  a  secure  and  sustainable  supply  of  CRMs  to  ultimately  meet  EU’s  twin  transition  and 
resilience  needs.  In  particular,  the  CRMs  Act  will  define  strategic  priorities  and  objectives  for 
private  and  public  actors;  improve  monitoring,  risk  prevention  and  coordination  in  the  field  of 
CRM;  strengthen  EU’s  CRM  value  chain  (exploration,  mining,  refining,  processing,  recycling);  and 
ensure a sustainable level playing field across the Single Market. To contribute towards security of 
supply of strategic raw materials in the Union, Member States may provide for support in national 

95  The  European  Commission’s  Raw  Materials  Information  System  (RMIS)  is  developed  by  the  JRC  in 
collaboration with DG GROW and it is available at this link: Raw Materials Information System (europa.eu) 
96 CRMs_for_Strategic_Technologies_and_Sectors_in_the_EU_2023.pdf (europa.eu)  
97 CRMs_for_Strategic_Technologies_and_Sectors_in_the_EU_2023.pdf (europa.eu) 

36 

 
 
 
permit  granting  procedures  to  speed  up  strategic  projects98.  These  projects  would  benefit  from 
streamlined procedures and improved access to finance, so that the time from exploration to mine 
or refining facility opening is no longer a question of decades. In order to achieve the goals of the 
CRM Act, Europe will have to attract more private investment throughout the entire process from 
mining to refining, processing, and recycling.  

2.2.2.2  Addressing dependencies for EU’s digital transformation 

The  Commission  has  been  working  towards  improving  the  understanding  and  monitoring  of  the 
EU’s strategic dependencies affecting the EU’s core interests. These notably relate to areas such 
as security and safety, health as well as the ability to access goods, services and technologies that 
are key for the digital and green transitions.  

Work  to  identify  and  assess  dependencies  has  been  initiated  since  the  March  2020  Industry 
Strategy. The Staff Working Document99 accompanying the update to the 2020 Industrial Strategy 
represents  another  step  of  the  EU  towards  a  more  structural,  systematic  and  cross-sector 
monitoring of the EU’s strategic dependencies. The document presents the quantitative mapping 
resulting  from  the  analysis  of  external  trade  flows  for  more  than  5  000  products  in  the  most 
sensitive  ecosystems,  including  digital,  where  the  EU  can  be  considered  highly  dependent  on 
imports from third countries. Complementary to the analysis of trade flows, an assessment of the 
EU’s performance as regards the generation and uptake of certain key technologies  had shown 
both strengths and weaknesses.  

The EU faces particular challenges in comparison with its global competitors for technologies that 
are  at  the  core  of  the  Digital  Decade  such  as  cloud  and  semiconductors.  The  second  in-depth 
analysis  of  Europe’s  strategic  dependencies  presented  by  the  Commission  on  23  February  2022 
has identified, in addition to cloud and semiconductors, also cybersecurity as an area where the EU 
faces  major  dependencies.  The  analysis  also  highlights  that  recent  advancements  in  edge 
computing  constitute  a  key  opportunity  for  the  European  cloud  market  to  overcome  existing 
dependencies, calling for swift reaction and investment to capitalise on this chance.  

Other relevant actions to identify and address strategic dependencies are being taken also in the 
context of the Action Plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries, through the 
Observatory of Critical Technologies. The Observatory analyses technologies that are essential for 
capabilities of strategic importance in the domains of space, defence, security, safety, health and 
for  the  twin  transitions  and  for  which  the  EU  is  dependent  from  foreign  actors,  ultimately 
identifying relevant mitigation measures. 

Instruments such as the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs), including the 
two pre-notified IPCEIs on Next Generation Cloud and Edge Computing  and Microelectronics and 
Communication Technologies as well as the Industrial Alliances continue to play an important role 
in addressing known strategic dependencies and enhancing the resilience of the value and supply 
chains underlying specific digital technologies.  
Since 2021, the European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud100 brings together European 
providers  of  highly  innovative  and  secure  edge  and  cloud  technologies  to  cooperate  on  an 
investment  roadmap  and  its  deployment,  with  the  involvement  of  Member  State  experts.  The 
reliance  of  EU  businesses  on  cloud  services  offered  by  non-EU  entities  means  that  the  value  of 

98  Strategic  projects  are  projects  that  are  in  the  EU’s  public  interest  and  that  have  a  role  in  ensuring  the 
Union's  security  of  supply  for  strategic  raw  materials  and  contributing  to  the  Union's  open  strategic 
autonomy and to the green and digital transition. 
99 EUR-Lex - 52021SC0352 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu) 
100 European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge, and Cloud (europa.eu) 

37 

 
 
 
 
industrial  and  public  sector  data  is  mostly  extracted  by  foreign  providers.  This  can  bring  risks  in 
terms of cybersecurity, supply  vulnerabilities, switching possibilities as well as unlawful access to 
data by third countries. By mobilising both industry and Member States, the Alliance contributes to 
overcoming fragmentation in the European cloud market and to forging a common approach to 
developing and deploying the next generation of cloud and edge capabilities for the benefit of EU 
businesses.  In  this  view,  the  shift  towards  edge  computing,  as  also  highlighted  in  the  second 
in-depth analysis of Europe’s strategic dependencies presents important opportunities for Europe 
to meet the demand for next generation of sustainable and secure data processing infrastructures, 
increased  data  processing  capacity  and,  consequently,  boosting  Europe’s 
unlocking  an 
technological sovereignty. 

2.2.2.3  Monitoring and stress-testing the resilience of the digital ecosystem  

Building  on  the  above-mentioned  action,  a  more  comprehensive  approach  is  made  possible  for 
analysing  and monitoring  in  real  time  all the  risks  that  are  undermining EU’s  digital  ecosystem 
resilience.  

So  far,  supply  chain  monitoring  tools  in  the  EU  are  still  scarce  and  mainly  targeted  to  specific 
products.  In  addition,  they  do  not  allow  for  the  tracking  of  the  real-time  evolution  of  supply 
chains. In the third issue of the Single Market Economic Papers series, the Commission has made a 
further step with an indicator-based mechanism to monitor the evolution of supply chains in the 
EU and identify their distress. It aims at contributing to a better risk assessment of supply chains, 
particularly  in strategic  areas, with the  ultimate goal of detecting disruptions as early as possible 
and  avoid  potential  adverse  effects.  The  so-called  SCAN  (Supply  Chain  Alert  Notification) 
monitoring system aims at identifying significant inflationary pressures and/or shortages resulting 
from imbalances between demand and supply. This tool can be applied at both product and sector 
level. The results of the SCAN on a list of commodities show that most of them are affected by the 
Russian  invasion of  Ukraine  and  almost  all  raw  materials  are  likely  to  be  affected  by  the  conflict 
experience  distress  (i.e.,  import  price  increases  and/or  import  quantity  decreases).  All  raw 
materials with  an  important  ex-ante  risk of  disruptions  are  subject  to  import  price  increases  and 
import  quantity  decreases.  Of  these,  magnesium  and  cadmium  are  of  great  relevance  for  the 
digital ecosystem101. 

With  the  recently  adopted  EU  Economic  Security  Strategy,  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  are 
better  equipped  to  commonly  identify  and  assess  the  risks  to  EU’s  economic  security,  to  use 
strategically  the  available  tools  for  dealing  with  these  risks  and  to  develop  new  tools  where 
needed. The objective is to maximise the benefits of its economic openness while minimising the 
risks  of  economic  interdependencies,  through  setting  up  a  common  strategic  framework  for  EU 
economic security. The strategy aims at promoting the EU’s competitiveness by bolstering its Single 
Market, innovation, technological and industrial capacities; protecting the EU’s economic security 
through  a  range  of  existing  tools  and  new  tools  (some  of  which  are  discussed  in  the  following 
sections); and partnering with likeminded countries to strengthen economic security and address 
shared  security  concerns  through  diversified  and  improved  trade  agreements,  strengthening 
international  rules  and  institutions,  and  investing  in  sustainable  development.  The  EU  Economic 
Security  Strategy  will  contribute  to  tackling  the  risks  to  the  resilience  of  our  supply  chains,  risks 
related to the physical and cyber security of our critical infrastructure, risks related to technology 
security and technology leakage and finally the risks of weaponisation of economic dependencies 
including economic coercion. 

101 'SCAN' (Supply Chain Alert Notification) monitoring system (europa.eu) 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
2.2.3  Focus on 6 key digital sectors for EU’s sovereignty and competitiveness 

The  EU  has  much  progress  to  make  to  regain  technological  leadership.  Three  aspects  are 
increasingly  seen  as  needing  to  be  addressed  including  the  lack  of  first-mover  advantage,  the 
absence of dominant EU technology players and strategic dependencies.  

The EU can rely on several levers to be a front runner in the current global digital race: a large 
internal  EU  market,  global  regulatory  and  standard-setting  power.  Six  key  enabling  technology 
areas are set to define and shape the future of EU’s capacity to act as a global technology leader: 
semiconductors, High-performance computing, quantum technologies, AI, Cloud, 5G and mobile 
equipment102. 

2.2.3.1  Strengthening the EU’s semiconductor ecosystem 

Semiconductors  are  fundamental  to  all  digital  technologies  and  are  the  best  illustration  of  the 
international nature of the market and supply chains. The lack of public investment to support the 
manufacture  of  advanced  technologies  within  the  EU  has  discouraged  semiconductor  industry 
development in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global chip shortage in 2021, which 
originally  affected  the  automotive  industry  but  later  spread  to  other  sectors.  The  increasing 
competition  for  semiconductor 
investments  by  highly 
industrialised  countries  like  China,  Taiwan,  the  US,  Japan,  South  Korea,  and  the  EU  to  develop 
domestic capacities103.  

led  to  substantial 

leadership  has 

The  global  semiconductors crisis  has  had  detrimental  impacts  across  several  industries, with  the 
automotive  sector  notably  suffering  the  most  in  the  EU104.  The  crisis  has  sparked  from  the 
increasing demand of chips accelerated by the digital transformation and a supply chain that has 
proved  to  be  not  resilient  enough  to  the  disruptions  caused  by  the  COVID-19  pandemic.  In 
addition, the high concentration of production of semiconductors in Asian countries (Taiwan and 
South Korea) coupled with the worsening of geopolitical tensions between China and Taiwan and 
the  strengthening  of  US  export  control  measures  have  exacerbated  the  situation  of  the  already 
fragile semiconductor supply chain. 

As  a  consequence,  global  semiconductor  companies  are  accelerating  the  development  of  their 
end-to-end design and manufacturing capabilities for leading-edge technology. Many governments 
are attempting to support their local semiconductor markets.  However, while no region or actor 
has  end-to-end  capabilities  for  semiconductor  design  and  manufacturing105,  there  are  clearly 
some winners and losers. In terms of revenues across the  semiconductors value chain, the US is 
the  market  leader,  followed  by  South  Korea,  Taiwan  and  Japan,  while  the  market  size  of  the  EU 
semiconductor industry represents only around 10% of the global market. In addition, the EU is not 
equally  strong  in  all  segments  of  the  value  chain,  showing  strengths  in  R&D  and  manufacturing 
equipment but weaknesses in design, manufacturing and assembly, test and packaging.  

Even before the EU Chips Act and since 2018, the Important Project of Common European Interest 
on  Processors  and  Semiconductor  Technologies  has  had  the  objective  to  endow  the  EU  with 
capabilities in design and industrial deployment of the next generation of trusted processors and 
other  electronic components  needed to power the EU’s critical digital infrastructures, AI-enabled 
systems, electric mobility, and communication networks. The first IPCEI will conclude in 2024/2025 
and  will  be  followed  by  a  second  IPCEI,  with  an  enlarged  focus  on  Microelectronics  and 

102 DGAP Policy Brief 
103 CRMs_for_Strategic_Technologies_and_Sectors_in_the_EU_2023.pdf (europa.eu) 
104 11 million less cars were produced in 2021, equalling to EUR 190 billion in lost revenues and a 33% 
decrease in sales in the EU. 
105 Semiconductor design and manufacturing: Achieving leading-edge capabilities (mckinsey.com) 

39 

 
 
 
 
Communication Technologies. This will support investments in innovative industrial capacities on 
choke  points  of  the  supply  chain  such  as  compound  materials,  equipment,  wafers,  process 
technology,  and  designs,  with  the  aim  of  enhancing  the  EU  semiconductors  market.  The 
complementing vehicle for R&D and pilot lines in this sector is the Key Digital Technologies (KDT) 
Joint Undertaking, which, following the adoption of the Chips Act, will become the Chips JU. 
Broadening  the  scope  of  the  activities  of  the  IPCEI,  the  proposed  EU  Chips  Act106  aims  to  give 
Europe leverage over key segments of the semiconductor value chain. The Act’s three pillars aim at 
bolstering  large-scale  technological  capacity  building  and  innovation  in  the  EU  chips  ecosystem 
while  also  improving  the  transition  'from  lab  to  fab';  enhancing  the  EU's  security  of  supply  by 
attracting investment and strengthening production capacities in the EU; and, finally, setting up a 
monitoring and crisis response mechanism. 

2.2.3.2  Consolidating EU’s success on the High-performance computing 

High-Performance  Computing  (HPC)  is  one  of  the  most  critical  drivers  for  scientific  excellence, 
industrial competitiveness in the  global digital economy  and for the digital transformation of our 
society. HPC is the engine that powers key technologies like AI, data analytics and cybersecurity to 
exploit the enormous potential of big data and support flagship initiatives like Destination Earth107 
(cf. 2.3). 

Through  EuroHPC,  the  Commission  has  developed  a  pan-European  HPC  strategy  aimed  at 
establishing a full European HPC ecosystem, supporting Europe’s leading role in the data economy 
and with one of the most ambitious goals of the Union in the Digital Decade: to become a world 
top  supercomputing  power  in  the  exascale  computing  era108.  This  strategy  is  deploying  a  fully-
fledged innovative European HPC ecosystem including a world-class HPC infrastructure (from low-
power  processors 
into 
supercomputing  systems)  with  high-speed  connectivity  and  leading-edge  data  and  software 
services  accessible  to  academia,  industry  and  SMEs,  and  public  actors  from  everywhere  in  the 
Union,  combined  with  an  independent  European  supply  of  key  HPC  technologies  and  systems, 
actions  for  maintaining  excellence  and  global  leadership  in  key  HPC  applications,  and  building 
human capacities and skills in key HPC-related technologies. 

to  software,  middleware,  applications,  and 

integration 

their 

As no single Member State had the capacity to develop on its own a cutting edge HPC ecosystem 
they united behind the EuroHPC declaration2 in March 2017 at the Digital Day in Rome, in which 
Member  States  marked  their  commitment  to  coordinate  together  with  the  Union  their 
supercomputing  strategies  and  investments,  followed  by  the  establishment  of the  EuroHPC  Joint 
Undertaking (JU)109 by the Council of the EU in September 2018.  

The first phase of the EuroHPC JU (2018-2020) with a budget of around EUR 1 billion for the period 
2018-2020 has successfully mobilised an unprecedented level of national and EU co-investments 
of EUR 900 million in advanced digital infrastructures with concrete results: 

- 

Since November 2017, the EU has multiplied by 10-fold its total computing power, placed two 
EuroHPC systems  among  the top world supercomputers  (#3 and #4)  -  where  no EU system 
was  included  in  the  top  10  in  November  2017  -  and  increased  its  share  in  the  global 
supercomputing capacity from 12% to 21% today; 

106 European Chips Act (europa.eu) 
107 ESA - Destination Earth 
108 Exascale computing refers to computing systems capable of calculating at least "10 18 IEEE 754 Double 
Precision (64-bit) operations (multiplications and/or additions) per second (exa FLOPS) 
109 Home page (europa.eu) 

40 

 
 
 
 
- 

- 

EuroHPC  systems  makes  available  today  more  than  1.6  exaflops  (almost  50%  of  the  total 
supercomputing  capacity  present  in  the  EU)  to  a  wide  range  of  scientific,  industrial  and 
public users across the European Union;  

The  pre-exascale  supercomputers  illustrate  the  level  of multi-country  participation:  LUMI  in 
Finland with 10 countries and total investment exceeding EUR 200 million; Leonardo in Italy 
involves 6 countries and a total cost of EUR 240 million; and the Mare Nostrum 5 in Spain with 
3 countries and a total cost of EUR 223 million. 

The continuation of the EuroHPC JU with a budget of around EUR 7 billion for the period 2021-2027 
represents  a major  step  to  achieve  even more  ambitious  goals.  For  example, between  2024  and 
205, EuroHPC will establish a world-leading hyper-connected and federated HPC infrastructure, 
including the first two exascale supercomputers in the EU and additional new mid-range systems, 
reaching an aggregated computing power beyond 3 exaflops - about 20 times the total computing 
capacity available in the EU in 2017.  

EuroHPC will also contribute to the Digital Decade’s objective of reinforcing the EU’s technology 
sovereignty  with  an  ambitious  action  to  develop  an  HPC  ecosystem  based  on  open  RISC-V 
processors, and their integration in exascale and post-exascale supercomputers, reducing the EU’s 
dependency  on  foreign  suppliers.  It  will  also  contribute  to  the  first  European  computer  with 
quantum acceleration by 2025, paving the way for cutting edge quantum capabilities in the Union 
by 2030. EuroHPC has selected 6 sites across the Union to host the first EU quantum computers in 
Czechia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and Poland, with a total co-investment of EUR 100 million, 
50%  of  which  to  be  pooled  by  17  participating  states.  The  LUMI-Q  Consortium  in  Czechia  is  the 
largest,  bringing  together  14  partners  from  nine  participating  states.  The  EuroHPC  federated 
infrastructure will integrate the quantum systems as high-end accelerators for specific applications 
in hybrid HPC/quantum configurations.  

EuroHPC’s  success  story  shows  that  the  EU  can  get  back  in  the  technological  race.  But  such  a 
success  requires  strong  long-term  political  and  financial  commitment  from  public  and  private 
partners  towards  a  clear and  ambitious  pan-European  strategy  driven  by  the  Union,  mobilising 
key European policies under one single governance and legal instrument that has the capacity to 
mobilise  and  pool  the  necessary  critical  mass  of  investments  (on  the  whole  spectrum  of  the 
ecosystem). 

2.2.3.3  Strengthening EU’s quantum ecosystem 

Quantum  technologies  are  a  rapidly  developing  field  with  significant  potential  for  enhancing 
Europe's competitiveness and productivity in various industries. Quantum technologies promise, 
for instance, exponential improvements in the way computers perform operations, in the security 
of  communications,  and  in  sensors’  precision.  Given  their  foundational  role  in  future  digital 
ecosystems and far-reaching economic and societal impact110, including through security, defence 
and space applications, quantum technologies are strategic for the EU, and are at the intersection 
of our technological competitiveness and security concerns.  
In  2018,  the  Commission  launched  the Quantum  Technologies  Flagship111,  a  large-scale  scientific 
leadership initiative pooling resources of research institutions, industry, and public funders with a 
budget of EUR 1 billion over ten years. The combined research strengths and funding efforts of the 
EU  and  EU  Member  States  have  made  Europe  a  competitive  actor  in  the  current  state  of 
technological development. With nearly EUR 7 billion combined, the EU ranks only behind China in 

110 Quantum | Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu) 
111 Quantum Technology | The future is Quantum (qt.eu) 

41 

 
 
 
 
public  investment  in  quantum112.  Since  2021,  at  least  8  Member  States  have  launched  national 
quantum programmes either in the form of consortia (e.g., Hungary and Portugal) or by direct R&D 
investment  schemes  only  for  quantum  technologies  (e.g.,  Austria),  with  at  least  four  of  them 
having published  national quantum  strategies  (France,  Germany, the Netherlands, and Slovakia). 
National  initiatives  aim  to  develop  Europe’s  research  excellence  into  fully-fledged  quantum 
ecosystems,  mobilising  often  significant  funding  in  countries  such  as  France  (EUR  1.8  billion, 
2021)113, Germany (EUR 2 billion, 2021)114, and the Netherlands (EUR 615 million, 2021)115. 

However,  despite  the  coordination  efforts  brought  forward  by  the  Quantum  Flagship 
programme, most EU countries continue to work in silos. Even at the national level, EU countries 
have  generally  not  achieved  the  level  of coordination  between  stakeholders  and  companies  that 
countries  like  the  US  and  China  have  managed  to  achieve116.  In  the  future,  the  enhancement  of 
coordination between national quantum programmes beyond the current efforts will be critical. 
In fact, in contrast to the US where several Big Tech actors (IBM, Google, Intel, Amazon) dominate 
the  quantum  field,  the  EU’s  quantum  strengths  lie  in  a  vibrant  ecosystem  of  research 
organisations and start-ups117. Though the US and Canada top the overall list of start-ups, the EU 
registered the most launches in 2021. In a situation of highly competitive and increasingly coercive 
economic  environment,  the  lack  of  joined-up  efforts  across  EU  Member  States  means  that 
building up Europe’s quantum ecosystem represents a huge challenge for the EU. Several of EU’s 
“quantum  champions”  are  indeed  currently  reaching  maturity,  requiring  so-called  “series  B”  and 
“series C”-financing, typically in the range of EUR 100 million, to enable industrial development and 
scale-up. This financing is not  readily available in the  EU  yet.  New investment tools could  aim to 
support strategic industrial projects and leverage private investment in this promising field. 

2.2.3.4  Secure and resilient connectivity infrastructures 

Communication  infrastructures  are  fundamental  to  the  digital  transformation.  It  is  therefore 
important  that  the  EU  is  prepared  to  tackle  potential  vulnerabilities  to  ensure the  resilience  and 
security of EU communications.  

In January 2020, the EU had published a Toolbox on 5G cybersecurity covering important aspects 
of non-interference of non-trusted suppliers via the supply chain. The Toolbox does not target any 
country  or  supplier  but  contains  recommendations  on  the  implementation  of  countries’  risk 
assessments as well as measures to restrict or exclude high-risk suppliers from critical and sensitive 
assets.  The  second  progress  report  on  Member  States’  progress  in  implementing  the  strategic 
and technical measures of the 5G Toolbox published in mid-June 2023 shows that 24 EU Member 
States have adopted or are preparing legislative measures giving national authorities the powers to 
perform this assessment  and issue  restrictions.  However, some of the  key measures listed in the 
Toolbox  have  not  been  fully  implemented  yet  in  all  Member  States.  The  importance  of  the 
connectivity infrastructure for the digital economy and dependence of many critical services on 5G 
networks means that Member States should achieve  the implementation of the  Toolbox without 
delay.  A  lack  of  swift  action  regarding  high-risk  suppliers  could  also  affect  over  time  the  EU 

112 Quantum computing talent not on pace with funding | McKinsey 
113 cp_-_plateforme_nationale_quantiquev04012022_finale.pdf (gouvernement.fr) 
114 Quantum technologies – from basic research to market (quantentechnologien.de) 
115 General overview and documents - Quantum Delta NL 
116 Can Europe Catch Up with the US (and China) in Quantum Computing? | BCG 
117 Quantum computing start-ups by country 2021 | Statista 

42 

 
 
 
 
consumers and companies’ trust in the internal market and increase the risk of spill-over in case of 
cyber-attacks118. 

Following  the  unanimous  agreement  of  Member  States  on  the  second  progress  report,  the 
Commission has also published a Communication on the Implementation of the 5G cybersecurity 
Toolbox119  where  it  underlines  its  strong  concerns  about  the  risks  posed  by  certain  suppliers  of 
mobile network communication equipment to the security of the Union. DAs part of its corporate 
cybersecurity policy, and in application of the 5G cybersecurity toolbox, the Commission will take 
measures  to  avoid  exposure  of  its  corporate  communications  to  mobile  networks  using 
equipment that would have all necessary cybersecurity requirements. 

The 5G Toolbox represents a powerful instrument for safeguarding the security of communications 
in the Union. This complements defensive economic measures that have been put in place in the 
last few years, such as the EU’s framework for screening of foreign direct investment120 that aims 
to better safeguard key EU assets based on enhanced national screening capacities and improved 
coordination among Member States, and the overall strengthening of export controls121.  

It  is  important  that  the  EU  establishes  itself  at  the  forefront  of  the  development  of  6G 
technology. Leadership in the research and innovation of this technology allows the EU to capture 
the first-mover  advantage and more  in control over the resilience of future networks  by shaping 
the design thereof.  

Here  too  the  EU  needs  to  ensure  that  our  communication  pathways  are  secure  and  resilient. 
Two-thirds of the approximately 250 cable systems connecting the EU with the rest of the world’s 
internet  are  submarine  cables122.  As  a  result,  ensuring  the  security  of  the  seabed  is  now  a  key 
priority123 124.  

Until  the  mid-2010s,  submarine  cables  were  primarily  owned  by  consortia  of  telecom  providers. 
Since  then,  however,  a  significant  trend  can  be  noticed  towards  private  investment  by  big  tech 
companies in new submarine cable systems. Increased control over internet’s cable infrastructure 
allows for the ability to shape global internet traffic flows with potential risks to the security and 
resilience of the EU’s internet infrastructure125.  

Space  connectivity  is  also  critical  for  EU’s  sovereignty  and  technological  leadership.  Satellite 
broadband  can  help  close  the  gaps  concerning  broadband  services  up  to  100 Mbps  download  in 
very rural and remote areas, when no fixed or mobile Gigabit networks is available and can provide 
emergency  service  in  disaster  or  crisis  situation  in  the  sense  of  resilience.  Through  the  IRIS2  126 
programme launched in November 2022, the EU is reinforcing its action in this area. With an EU 
budget  seed  of  EUR  2.4  billion,  IRIS²  establishes  space  as  a  vector  of  our  European  autonomy,  a 

118  Second  report  on  Member  States’  progress  in  implementing  the  EU  Toolbox  on  5G  Cybersecurity  | 
Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu), p. 22-23. 
119  Communication  from  the  Commission:  Implementation  of  the  5G  cybersecurity  Toolbox  |  Shaping 
Europe’s digital future (europa.eu) 
120 Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a 
framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union (OJ L 79 I, 21.3.2019, pp. 1–14). 
121  Regulation  (EU)  2021/821  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  May  2021  setting  up  a 
Union  regime  for  the  control  of  exports,  brokering,  technical  assistance,  transit,  and  transfer  of  dual-use 
items (OJ L 206 I, 11.6.2021, pp. 1-461) 
122 Security threats to undersea communications cables and infrastructure – consequences for the EU | Think 
Tank | European Parliament (europa.eu) p. 16 
123 CRMs_for_Strategic_Technologies_and_Sectors_in_the_EU_2023.pdf (europa.eu) 
124 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023H0120%2801%29 
125 Security threats to undersea communications cables and infrastructure – consequences for the EU | Think 
Tank | European Parliament (europa.eu) p. 34 
126 Welcome IRIS²: Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (europa.eu) 

43 

 
 
 
vector  of  connectivity  and  a  vector  of  resilience  and  will  provide  a  security  network  for  the  EU 
governments and military basis, integrating the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure 
(EuroQCI),  which  will  contribute  to  protection  against  cyberattacks  by  using  quantum  key 
distribution to enable the secure transmission of cryptographic keys.  

Secure  and  resilient  connectivity  is  essential  for  the  EU’s  competitiveness,  leadership  and 
autonomy. Given the current geopolitical and security situation, the EU must reinforce efforts to 
ensure  the  security  and  resilience  of  its  telecommunications  infrastructure  as  well  as  the  digital 
services that are enabled by it. 

2.2.3.5  EU data sovereignty 

The estimated share of the data economy impacts on GDP in the EU27 has increased from 3.7% in 
2021  to  3.9%  in  2022.  To  implement  the  European  Strategy  for  Data,  which  was  published  in 
February  2020,  the  Commission  has  focused  on  combining  fit-for-purpose  legislation  and 
governance  with  investments  in  standards,  tools,  cloud,  edge  and  data  infrastructures  and 
services  and  competencies  to  ensure  the  availability  of  data  as  well  as  in  the  set-up  of  a  High 
Impact  Project  on  next  generation  federated  cloud-to-edge  infrastructure  and  services.  These 
actions aim to create a favourable context for innovative, secure and trustworthy data storage and 
processing advanced capabilities in the EU and the establishment of a single European data space 
that  is open  to  data  from around  the world.  This  space  will  guarantee secure personal  and  non-
personal  data,  providing  businesses  with  easy  access  to  high-quality  industrial  data,  thereby 
boosting growth and creating value. This will in particular help innovative SMEs - which account for 
98% of all data user companies in the EU  - and start-ups whose business model is dependent on 
having  access  to  high-quality  data.  In  this  single  European  data  space,  EU  law  will  be  enforced 
effectively, and all data-driven products and services will comply with the relevant norms of the 
EU's Single Market. This approach will ensure the objective of European data sovereignty, making 
it the safest and most attractive place for exchanging data. 

The Data Governance Act (applicable from 24 September 2023) and the proposal for a Data Act 
(adopted in February 2022 and currently being negotiated) form the foundation of the European 
model for data governance. These regulations adhere to European fundamental rights and values, 
as well as the existing data and privacy protection laws. They follow a human-centric approach that 
aims to empower individuals and businesses, particularly start-ups and SMEs, which are involved in 
producing data. 

In particular, the Data Governance Act includes measures that promote voluntary data sharing by 
improving trust in data exchanges, increasing data availability, and overcoming technical barriers to 
data  reuse.  Neutral  data  intermediaries  will  serve  as  trustworthy  organisers  of  data  sharing  and 
pooling  between  data  holders  and  users.  Additionally,  a  European  framework  for  data  altruism 
will  encourage  citizens  and  businesses  to  share  their  data  for  general  interest  purposes.  The 
European  Data  Innovation  Board  will  help  Member  States  to  develop  best  practices  for  data 
sharing and address any gaps in data standards and technical requirements within the Union. 

The  proposed  Data  Act  complements  these  rules  by  clarifying  the  legal  access  and  use  of  data 
rights  in  various  contexts,  including  business-to-business  (B2B),  business-to-consumer  (B2C),  and 
business-to-government  (B2G).  It  aims  to  promote  fairness  in  the  data  economy  and  provides 
control over data to individuals and businesses, particularly those involved in producing it. The new 
access right is expected to lead to efficiency and productivity gains of up to EUR 196.7 billion per 
year  by  2028127.  Entities  will  have  the  power  to  decide  who  can  access  their  data,  for  what 
purposes, and under which conditions. SMEs will benefit from an unfairness test introduced in the 

127 Study to support an Impact Assessment on enhancing the use of data in Europe 

44 

 
 
 
 
Data  Act  and  which  is  expected  to  bring  benefits  in the  amount  of EUR  7.4  billion  per  year.  The 
proposed Data Act is the first  European legislative proposal that allows public sector bodies to 
access  businesses'  data  in  exceptional  circumstances,  such  as  during  public  emergencies  or 
natural disasters, to make the public sector more data-driven and efficient. 

Finally,  the  Implementing  Regulation  on  High-Value  Datasets,  adopted  in  December  2022,  also 
contributes to the regulatory framework for data by outlining a list of datasets that must be made 
available  for  free,  in  a machine-readable  format,  and  through  application  programming  interface 
(APIs). 

The  data  legislation  is  poised  to  enhance  data  sharing,  pooling,  and  reuse  in  strategic  economic 
sectors  and  domains  of  public  interest,  such  as  health,  agriculture,  energy,  mobility,  and 
environment.  This  will  ensure  that  relevant,  high-quality  data  fills  the  common  European  data 
spaces.  The  creation  of  these  data  spaces  will  establish  an  ecosystem  of  well-established 
companies, SMEs, start-ups, public sector bodies, civil society, and individuals, providing access to 
more data in a secure and trusted environment and giving rise to innovations.  

The European data strategy initially introduced the development of ten common European data 
spaces.  This  list  is  not  exhaustive,  and  work  has  already  begun  on  four  additional  data  spaces, 
namely  tourism,  cultural  heritage,  languages,  and  media.  Since  the  same  datasets  can  serve 
multiple  purposes  across  various  data  spaces,  the  Commission's  long-term  goal  is  to  ensure  that 
these data spaces are interoperable, enabling data to flow across sectors and borders. 

These investments will boost Europe's technological sovereignty in key enabling technologies, and 
infrastructures and services for the data economy. Over the first three years of the Digital Europe 
programme,  the  EU  invested  roughly  450  million  EUR  to  support  the  creation  of  sectoral  data 
spaces and develop a  technical infrastructure for sharing data in a trusted and secure manner. 
This will be achieved through Simpl, an open-source smart middleware that enables cloud-to-edge 
federations and supports major data initiatives funded by the European Commission, including the 
common European data spaces. 

Adding  to  these  initiatives,  a  number  of  EDIC  proposals  aimed  at  reinforcing  European  data 
sovereignty  have  also  been  put  forward.  The  Mobility  and  Logistics  Data  EDIC  proposed  by 
Member  States  should  facilitate  the  establishment  of  a  common  European  mobility  data 
infrastructure ensuring safe access, sharing and reuse of data. The proposed long-term objective of 
the  EDIC  is  to  progressively  become  the  core  of  the  European  Mobility  and  Logistics  Data 
ecosystem.  The  Genome  EDIC  proposed  by  Member  States  is  intended  to  establish  a  trust 
framework  to  enable  the  effective  and  secure  cross-border  access  to  repositories  of  personal 
genomic datasets among participating countries.  

2.2.3.6  Artificial Intelligence  

Strengthening Europe’s AI capabilities is a key element of the wider strategy of making Europe fit 
for  the  digital  age.  The  rapid  development  of  large  artificial  intelligence  (AI)  models  in  recent 
years promises to have a profound impact on important segments of the European economy and 
society.  Their  advanced  AI  capabilities  and  their  ability  to  adapt  to  diverse  tasks  and  domains 
renders  large  AI  models  highly  valuable  for  industry  innovation  and  are  expected  to  redefine 
sectors like healthcare, finance, education, among others. 

However,  these  developments  have  been  primarily  driven  outside  of  the  EU  by  big  technology 
companies  with  access  to  extensive  computing  resources,  vast  data  repositories,  and  skilled 
engineers.  In  the  EU,  the  development  of  these  models  has  been  hindered  by  a  fragmented 
approach, attributable to limited availability of computing power, data, coordination of talented 
communities, and financial resources. 

45 

 
 
 
Faced  with  these  rapid  AI  developments  and  a  global  policy  context  where  more  and  more 
countries are investing heavily in AI, the EU must act jointly to harness the many opportunities and 
address  challenges  of  AI  in  a  future-proof  manner.  In  this  context  the  2021  review  of  the 
Coordinated Plan on AI put forward a concrete set of joint actions for the European Commission 
and  Member  States  on  how  to  create  EU  global  leadership  on  trustworthy  AI.  Its  proposed  key 
actions  reflected  the  vision  that  to  succeed  the  European  Commission  together  with  Member 
States  and  private  actors  need  to  accelerate  investments  in  AI  technologies  to  drive  resilient 
economic  and  social  recovery  facilitated  by  the  uptake  of  ‘new’  digital  solutions;  act  on  AI 
strategies  and  programmes  by  fully  and  timely  implementing  them  to  ensure  that  the  EU  fully 
benefits from the first-mover adopter advantages; and align AI policy to remove fragmentation and 
address global challenges. 

The  Commission  proposed  that  the  Union  invests  in  AI  at  least  EUR  1  billion  per  year  from 
Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe programmes under the programming period 2021-2027. 
This  EU-level  funding  should  attract  and  pool  investment  to  foster  collaboration  among  Member 
States  and  maximise  impact  in  joining  efforts,  achieving  much  more  together  than  the  sum  of 
individual  uncoordinated  efforts.  The  objective  was  set  to  gradually  increase  public  and  private 
investment in AI to a total of EUR 20 billion per year over the course of this decade. 

Indeed, in 2021/2022 alone, the EU has invested more than EUR 4 billion from Horizon Europe and 
the Digital Europe Programme in the research, development and deployment of AI including the AI 
Testing and Experimentation Facilities, the Networks of AI excellence centres and Data Spaces. In 
addition, AI development benefits from the policy actions regarding the potential of data, critical 
computing  capacity  and  strategic  leadership  in  high-impact  sectors  set  out  in  the  Coordinated 
Plan128. 

Europe, with its long experience in research and innovation and a deep pool of skilled researchers, 
is uniquely positioned to contribute to and steer these advancements. However, to keep European 
institutions  and  businesses  at  the  cutting  edge  of  this  technology,  it  is  important  that  Europe 
invests into the development of sovereign AI models. That includes prioritising research into, and 
development of new foundation models developed by European firms and research labs, of similar 
competitive scale and performance to the world leading models. 

To  build  large  AI models  such  as  ChatGPT  requires  access  to  large  amounts  of data,  and enough 
computing power to process the data. So far only big companies like Microsoft, Meta and Google 
can afford to build such large models. They have a strong hold on AI and are keen on consolidating 
their  power  and  dominate  the  market.  Several  countries  like  the  US,  DE,  and  UK  proposed 
sovereignty plans to ensure that they can build their own AI models. 

This focus of policy support for AI has had some success. In 2022, the EU was the only one of the 
major economies where AI venture capital investment continued to grow, while it fell considerably 
in the US and China. Still, with EUR 15.6 billion AI venture capital investment, the EU continues to 
lag behind China and far behind the US. Moreover, the success of ChatGPT has led to a renewed 
enthusiasm  of  AI  venture  capital  investment  in  the  US,  so  that  the  gap  risks  increasing  again  in 
2023. 

In March the UK government announced that it is going to invest GBP 900 million in a cutting-edge 
supercomputer  as  part  of  an  AI  strategy  that  includes  ensuring  the  country  can  build  its  own 
“BritGPT”. A dedicated taskforce  in the US proposes to invest  USD 2.6  billion  in funding a widely 
accessible  AI  research  cyberinfrastructure  that  brings  together  computational  resources,  data, 
testbeds, algorithms, software, services, networks, and expertise. This conveys a sense of urgency 
for the EU and the Member States to act now, joining forces to build jointly cutting-edge AI models 

128 E.g., Data Act, Data Governance Act, EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, European Partnership on Key Digital 
Technologies 

46 

 
 
 
and capitalise on existing strengths - research, engineering, HPC and data resources - to become 
independent  from foreign models and maintain its competitiveness in the global economy and 
drive innovation and growth.  

2.2.4  Cybersecurity  

Cybersecurity is an essential element for the security and resilience of our digital infrastructure129. 
As the EU has become a global political, economic and security actor, it has also growingly become 
a target for cyberattacks. The war in Ukraine has increased Member States’ awareness on the need 
for more cooperation at the EU level to the point that cybersecurity is now recognised in the EU 
Strategic Compass - the plan of action for strengthening the EU’s security and defence policy - as a 
way to increase the effectiveness and security of our efforts on land, in the air, at sea and in outer 
space. This represents a major paradigm shift in the Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy 
(CSDP). In order to better manage cyber threats, the EU  will need advanced technologies, secure 
infrastructure,  common 
increased  operational  cooperation  and  effective 
sanctions130. 

requirements, 

Since 2020, the EU has significantly strengthened its policy landscape to prevent, detect, deter, and 
respond  to  cyberattacks  on  the  Union,  its  Member  States,  critical  infrastructure,  businesses  and 
citizens. The NIS 2 Directive, which entered into force in January 2023, raises the bar in terms of 
cybersecurity  requirements,  strengthens  the  EU  crisis  management  framework  and  formally  sets 
up EU-CyCLONe to support the coordinated management of large-scale cybersecurity incidents and 
crises  at  operational  level  and  to  ensure  the  regular  exchange  of  relevant  information  among 
Member States and EU institutions, bodies and agencies. 

To raise even more the level of resilience and security of our Single Market, the EU is adopting an 
ambitious  technological and regulatory approach. On the technological front, the Commission is 
working  on  the  deployment  of  a  technological  roadmap  to  identify  cyber  dependencies  and  to 
concentrate EU and national funding, whether civilian or military (through the European Defence 
Fund), to reducing these dependencies131.  

The Cyber Resilience Act proposal, presented in September 2022, aims to establish cybersecurity 
requirements,  including  cybersecurity  by  design  and  by  default,  for  hardware  and  software 
products accessing the  Single  Market, regardless of where they are produced.  According to the 
proposal, the vast majority  of the  products  under the  scope  of the Act  (estimated by the  impact 
assessment  to  be  approximately  90%  of  the  total)  would  be  subjected  to  self-assessment,  while 
products  considered  as  critical  (estimated  to  be  roughly  10%)  will  be  subject  to  more  stringent 
compliance  assurance  requirements,  including  third-party  conformity  assessment  (e.g.,  industrial 
firewalls, routers or operating systems). The Commission continues to ensure the implementation 
of the 5G cybersecurity toolbox in the deployment of secure networks.  

Aiming  to  drastically  reduce  the  time  needed  to  detect  a  sophisticated  cyber-attack,  the 
Commission  has  proposed  a  Cyber  Solidarity  Act.  This  establishes  a  European  infrastructure  of 
Security  Operation  Centres  (SOCs)  that  will  scan  the  network  using  artificial  intelligence 
technologies  and  detect  weak  signals  of  attacks.  This  common  European  advanced  detection 
infrastructure  will  form  a  real  European  cyber  shield.  The  pilot  project132,  bringing  together  17 
countries in three large  Security Operation  Centres  (SOCs), will be  deployed this year. To further 
strengthen the security and resilience of our critical infrastructures the Commission, in partnership 

129 Cf. notably to the EUCO Conclusions on ICT supply chain security (17 October 2022) 
130 A European Cyber Shield to step up our collective resilience (europa.eu) 
131 PQCRYPTO: an EU-funded project success story | Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu) 
132 Cybersecurity: EU launches first phase of deployment of the European infrastructure of cross-border 
security operations centres | Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu) 

47 

 
 
 
 
with  the  Member  States,  will  simulate  attack  scenarios  and  penetration  tests  to  strengthen  the 
detection of any, including for undersea cables and space networks.  

Better preparation in handling a significant attack is essential. This can be achieved by increasing 
the  exchange  of  information  between  Member  States,  establishing  an  effective  operational 
capacity  for  joint  crisis  management,  and  laying  a  foundation  for  true  European  solidarity  and 
mutual  assistance.  In  this  respect,  the  Cyber  Solidarity  Act  should  include  a  cyber  emergency 
mechanism providing civil protection for cyberattacks similar to that for natural disasters. This will 
involve the creation of a European Cyber Reserve, comprising of certified and trustworthy private 
service  providers,  which  can  be  called  upon  by  any  Member  State  or  entity  requesting  support 
during  an  attack.  This  will  become  the  EU’s  cyber  reactive  arm,  in  addition  to  the  technical 
cooperation already happening through the CSIRT network and the operational cooperation in the 
context of the EU CYCLONE. 

As  a  way  forward,  the  EU  will  have  to  establish  a  credible  global  presence  in  the  cyber  field  by 
developing  a  strong  doctrine  on  cyberattacks  and  defence. This  is  crucial  to  address  the  growing 
threat that Europe faces. The existing actions such as strengthening critical infrastructure, creating 
a  common  detection  system,  establishing  a  cyber  reserve  for  European  solidarity,  and  adopting 
active and direct sanctions have enabled Europe to already enhance its deterrent position in cyber 
matters.  However,  for  this  deterrent  to  become  credible,  it  will  have  to  be  accompanied  by  an 
offensive capability strategy. Close cooperation with allies will also be crucial in this field. Hence, 
working closely with NATO and launching a cyber dialogue between the US and Europe with close 
cooperation  and  trust  is  a  crucial  step  towards  addressing  the  issue.  Deeper  engagements  on 
security  aspects  related  to  emerging  technologies  such  as  adversarial  artificial  intelligence  and 
quantum-resistant  cryptography  will  be  key  to  secure  our  critical  infrastructure  in  the  short  to 
medium  term  future.  As  the  lines  between  civilian  and  military  blurs  and  cyberspace  is  used  to 
carry  out  aggression  below  the  threshold  of  armed  conflict,  EU-NATO  cooperation  on  cyber 
resilience  must  be  strengthened  in  particular  in  terms  of  joint  situational  awareness  and  crisis 
coordination.  The  launch  of  the  EU  NATO  taskforce  on  critical  infrastructure  protection,  as 
announced by President von der Leyen in January 2023, is an important step in this regard. 

To  address  the  gap  in  cybersecurity  professionals,  which  is  estimated  to  be  ranging  between  
260  000  and  500  000,  the  Commission  has  put  forward,  on  18  April  2023,  a  Communication  on 
Closing the cybersecurity talent gap to boost the EU’s competitiveness, growth and resilience133. 
The Cyber Security Skills Academy EDIC is being set up in this context. This EDIC would develop the 
Cybersecurity  Skills  Academy  as  an  umbrella  organisation  under  which  different  Member  States 
entities would integrate various activities related to cybersecurity education and training for SMEs, 
start-ups and the European public sector, as well as standardisation of procedures for cybersecurity 
competence  recognition  and  professional  certification.  Addressing  the  cybersecurity  skills  needs 
requires  first  having  accurate  data  on  the  state  of  the  labour  market  to  develop  education  and 
training  curricula  fit  for  the  needs  and  direct  funds  towards  those.  Implementing  the 
communication,  and  in  coherence  with  the  approach  of  the  Digital  Decade  Policy  Programme, 
indicators and key performance indicators (KPIs) for cybersecurity professionals are to be defined, 
and subsequently, data to be collected.  

Deeper  engagements  on  security  aspects  related  to  emerging  technologies  such  as  adversarial 
artificial  intelligence  and  quantum-resistant  cryptography  will  be  key  to  secure  our  critical 
infrastructure in the short to medium term future. As the lines between civilian and military blurs 
and  cyberspace  is  used  to  carry  out  aggression  below  the  threshold  of  armed  conflict,  EU-NATO 
cooperation  on  cyber  resilience  must  be  strengthened  in  particular  in  terms  of  joint  situational 
awareness and crisis coordination. The launch of the EU NATO taskforce on critical infrastructure 

133 EUR-Lex - 52023DC0207 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu) 

48 

 
 
 
protection, as announced by President von der Leyen in January 2023, is an important step in this 
regard. 

2.3  Twinning the digital and green transition 

The digital transformation is a vital ally in our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint and 
achieve the European Green Deal which sets the ambition for the Union to be climate-neutral by 
2050. The Digital Decade sets the objective of ensuring that digital infrastructures and technologies 
become  more  sustainable  and  resource  efficient  and  includes  several  references  to  the 
sustainability of infrastructures targets notably edge nodes and semiconductors. 
The  Digital  Decade’s  objectives134,  targets  and  the  European  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and 
Principles are all seeking to promotes sustainable digital technologies, products and services with a 
minimum  negative  impact  on  the  environment  and  on  society.  Also,  access  to  accurate  and 
easy-to-understand  information  on  environmental  impact  and  energy  consumption  should  be 
available to everyone.  

According to the Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade 2023, the twinning of the digital and green 
transitions is considered to be a key factor in Europe’s digitalisation. 2 out of 3 Europeans consider 
that digital technologies will be playing an important role for fighting climate change. 

The  December  2020  Council  Conclusions135  (Digitalisation  for  the  benefits  of  the  environment) 
recognised that “digitalisation is an excellent lever to accelerate the transition to a climate neutral, 
circular  and  more  resilient  economy”  and  called  for  a  series  of  measures  and  initiatives,  which 
sparked  action  by  the  European  Commission  as  well  as  concrete  commitments  from  Member 
States. 

The  synergistic  alignment  of  the  green  transition  and  the  digital  transformation  is  a  political 
priority of the European Commission, as announced by President Ursula von der Leyen as early as 
in her political guidelines136. An effective integration of digitalisation in the green transition policies 
and the support of digitalisation deployments with sustainable finance are key challenges ahead. 

The EU has been actively working towards maximising the synergies of the green transition and 
digital  transformation  following  the  publication  of  the  EU  Digital  Strategy137,  where  first 
ambitious goals have been set, for example, to work towards climate neutrality of data centres in 
the EU by 2030 (cf. section 1.3.2). Measures aiming to improve the circularity of digital devices and 
to  reduce  eWaste  include  the  right  to  repair  directive  as  well  as  the  recently  issued  eco-design 
criteria for mobile phones and tablets138. Efforts are also ongoing in developing low  energy chips 
under the European Processor Initiative, furthering sustainability in the digital sector. 

Actions and commitments promoting the twin transition have also been set by EU Member States 
at ministerial level, such as the Declaration on “A Green and Digital Transformation of the EU”139 

134 Article 3 of the Digital decade decision includes a commitment to “ensuring that digital infrastructure and 
technologies,  including  their  supply  chains,  become  more  sustainable,  resilient,  and  energy-  and  resource-
efficient,  with  a  view  to  minimising  their  negative  environmental  and  social  impact,  and  contributing  to  a 
sustainable circular and climate-neutral economy and society in line with the European Green Deal, including 
by  promoting  research  and  innovation  which  contribute  to  that  end  and  by  developing  methodologies  for 
measuring the energy and resource efficiency of the digital space” 
135 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-13957-2020-INIT/en/pdf 
136 political-guidelines-next-commission_en_0.pdf (europa.eu) 
137 https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en 
138 Commission Regulation (EU) .../... laying down ecodesign requirements for smartphones, mobile phones 
other than smartphones, cordless phones, and slate tablets (europa.eu) 
139 Declaration on A Green and Digital Transformation of the EU https://digital-
strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/eu-countries-commit-leading-green-digital-transformation 

49 

 
 
 
 
(March 2021) and in the Ministerial Declaration Toulouse Call for a Green and Digital Transition in 
the  EU140  (June  2022),  are  also  particularly  important  in  the  context  of  this  report.  For  example, 
Member  States  committed  in 2021  to make  green  public  procurement141  the  default  option  and 
establish  a  sustainable  baseline  for  public  sector  procurement  of  ICT  products,  data  centres  and 
cloud services, thereby stimulating a strong European market for green technologies. However, the 
EU is still underutilising this potential:  a tripling of public procurement investments in innovative 
green, digital solutions is needed to achieve full speed green, digital transition. 

The  overall  potential  of  emission  reduction  using  digital  solutions  based  on  existing 
technologies is estimated at 15%-20% of total GHG emissions by 2030, provided they are properly 
used and governed142. To optimise the synergy between the digital transformation and the green 
transition we need to support innovation, deployment and financing in digital solutions that deliver 
significant net positive environmental impact.  

As  a  first  step, we  need  to  develop  and  agree  on  standardised  methods  to measure the  positive 
and  negative  impacts  of  digital  solutions.  This  will  allow  us  to  make  digital  technologies  more 
energy and material efficient, keep rebound effects under control143, and support the development 
and deployment of ’green digital solution’ that deliver measurable environmental benefits.  
-  When  implemented  under  the  right  conditions,  digital  solutions144  have  demonstrated 
significant  reduction  of  GHG  emissions, 
improved 
environmental monitoring. For instance, by creating a digital twin of a building, energy usage 
can  be  reduced  by  up  to 17%  and  costs  slashed  by 15-25%145.  Many  more examples  can  be 
found in the Strategic Foresight Report 2022146; 

increased  resource  efficiency  and 

-  At  the  same  time,  the  ICT  sector  is  also  a  significant  source  of  energy  consumption, 
emissions  and  waste.  Today,  it  accounts  for  approximately  7-9%  of  global  electricity 
consumption, forecasted to rise to 13% by 2030147, for 2-4% of the total GHG emissions, and, 
increasing amounts of eWaste148. More than five billion mobile phones are currently unused 
and could be recycled  in the  context of a  circular mobile  supply chain.  It is estimated that a 
refurbished phone can have 87% lower climate impact than a newly manufactured phone and 
that if properly recycled, five billion mobile phones could recover EUR 8 billion worth of gold, 
palladium,  silver,  copper,  rare  earth  elements,  and other  critical minerals,  and  cobalt  for  10 

140 Toulouse Call for a Green and Digital Transition in the EU June 2022 
https://www.economie.gouv.fr/files/files/2022/Call_for_Green_Digital_Transition_EU.PDF 
141 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/results-eu-wide-benchmarking-innovation-procurement-
investments-and-policy-frameworks-across-europe 
142 IPCCC Report 2022 (B.4.3) 
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_SPM.pdf  
143 See the Digital reset report https://digitalization-for-sustainability.com/digital-reset/  
144 such as IoT enabled smart grids, precision farming, connected mobility, teleworking, AI and robotics-based 
manufacturing or waste treatment, 3D printing, satellite earth observations services and others. Digital 
solutions are combination of digital technologies such as cloud services, fixed and mobile 
telecommunications, AI, IoT, blockchain, quantum. 
145 https://www.weforum.org/reports/shaping-the-future-of-construction-a-breakthrough-in-mindset-and-
technology 
146 Strategic Foresight Report Twinning the green and digital transitions in the new geopolitical context, 
COM/2022/289 final. 
147 According to the Strategic Foresight Report 2022, the Action plan on Digitalisation of Energy Systems and 
eWaste Monitor, 
148 E-waste (electronic waste) is any electronic device or equipment that is obsolete, energy intensive, or has 
reached the end of its life, such as old computers, mobile phones, tablets, smart TVs, telecommunication 
equipment, and other electronic devices. GEM 2020 - E-Waste Monitor (ewastemonitor.info) 

50 

 
 
 
million  electric  car  batteries149.  The  fast-evolving  nature  of  digital  technologies  and  the 
possible sharp increase of digitally enabled services is likely to reinforce further this situation. 
All  analyses  and  studies  agree  that  appropriate  measures  can  limit  or  reduce  the  ICT  sector 
footprint. 

Investment is key to incentivise the move towards more resource-efficient digital technologies. 
The  EU  Taxonomy  Regulation  delegated  act  on  climate  mitigation  and  adaptation  has  set  clear 
criteria  notably  for  green  datacentres  and  green  digital  solutions  that  will  help  steer  investment 
towards greener data centres and proven green digital solutions as a sustainable economic activity. 
Over the summer, the Commission will publish an EU Cloud Rulebook as a single point of reference 
for relevant rules applicable to the cloud, including on sustainability. 

The adoption of the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework in March 2023 will support clean 
tech manufacturing, including their digital component. A the same time, the Commission endorsed 
amendments  to  the  General  Block  Exemption  Regulation  (‘GBER’),  which  have  the  potential  to 
facilitate,  simplify  and  speed  up  support  for  the  EU’s  green  and  digital  transitions,  massively 
facilitating  investments  in  digital  technologies  and  connectivity,  notably:  new  possibilities  for 
Digital Innovation Hubs (relevant for SMEs), Testing and Experimentation Facilities (such as pilot 
lines  foreseen  in  the  Chips  Act)  and  for  the  uptake  of  digital  technologies  such  as  artificial 
intelligence,  cloud,  edge  and  high-performance  computing  and  cybersecurity,  ambitious 
connectivity  projects  bringing  significant  new  capabilities  and  investments  in  infrastructure  for 
remote areas (including outermost regions) and, for the first time, the possibility to devote part of 
the  funding  to  active  equipment;  Backhaul  networks  that  do  not  have  yet  the  performance  of 
fibre;  Gigabit  connectivity  projects  connecting  socio-economic  drivers  (e.g.,  schools)  with  less 
than 300 Mbps connectivity. 

How to synergise digital transformation and green transition concretely: focus on energy system.  
The EU  Action  Plan  on  the  Digitalisation of  the  Energy  System150,  adopted  on  18  October 2022, 
sets out  concrete actions to deliver on both the Green Deal and ‘A Europe Fit  for  the Digital Age’ 
priorities,  hence  at  leveraging  the  digital  transformation  to  foster  the  green  transition,  namely: 
Create  an  EU  energy  data  space  to  ensure  seamless  exchange  of  interoperable  data  between 
different  actors  along  the  energy  value  chain;  Increase  coordinated  investments  in  the  electricity 
grid as the enabler for a smarter and more resilient energy system; Support consumers to benefit 
from innovative digital ways to engage with the energy transition and make more efficient use of 
energy;  Ensure  the  energy  system  is  cyber-secure  through  continuous  effort  and  investment; 
Support the IT  sector to be a driver of investments  in renewables and energy efficiency along the 
value chain (from data centres to digital applications); Support research and innovation as well as 
structural and joint learning of all actors involved in the twin transition. 

Since the adoption, the following actions have been successfully implemented: 

- To promote investments in digital electricity infrastructure, on 20 December 2022, the European 
association for the cooperation of transmission system operators for electricity (ENTSO-E) and the 
association  of  European  distribution  system  operators  (EU.DSO  Entity),  with  the  presence  of 
Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, signed a declaration of intent151 towards the creation of a 
digital twin of the European electricity grid that will help drive and coordinate investments in the 
digitalisation of the electricity infrastructure;  

149 https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-industry-eyes-five-billion-dormant-phones-
sitting-in-desk-drawers-for-reuse-or-recycling/  
150 COM (2022) 552 final 

51 

 
 
 
 
- To facilitate access to data (at the consumer’s consent), the Implementing Act on interoperability 
requirements and procedures for access to metering and consumption data has been agreed with 
the Member States and goes towards adoption;  

- To ensure the EU workforce has the skills to digitalise the energy system, progress has been made 
towards the establishment of a large-scale Partnership on the digitalisation of the energy value 
chain in the framework of the Pact for Skills, which will also contribute to the Green Deal Industrial 
Plan. To ensure digital solutions can help consumers save energy, a first key step was completed, 
namely  the  landscaping  analysis  for  the  development  of  a  Common  European  Reference 
Framework  for  energy-saving  application152.  The  report  highlights  the  potential  of  digital 
technology in offering solutions to help consumers make informed choices.  

To ensure synergies between green and digital investments and policies, the Commission Notice on 
the  Guidance  to  Member  States  for  updated  National  Energy  and  Climate  Plans  (NECPs)  2021- 
2030153 - published on 15 December 2022 - encourages and assists Member States to make use of 
the existing tools and to build on their activities in the field of digital and energy to explore the full 
potential of the twin green and digital transition, while avoiding duplication.  The Commission will 
follow-up on the guidance in discussions with Member States on the updated NECPs. Furthermore, 
many other actions are under way, for example the preparatory work to set up the Smart Energy 
Expert  Group  and  its  Data  4  Energy  working  group  is  progressing,  and  to  ensure  continuity  the 
Smart Grid Task Force is continuing to work on key issues around demand response, cybersecurity 
and consumer engagement. 

Digital innovations are also required to make the  energy system smarter and more interactive so 
consumers  can  reap  the  benefits  of  increasing  shares  of  cheap  renewables,  with  Commission 
proposal for a targeted Electricity Market Design Reform from 14 March 2023. 

2.3.1  The pathfinder role of the cloud/edge computing sector 

Compared to traditional on-premises data storage, the use of centralised computing capacities in 
the  cloud  has  historically  driven  financial  and  efficiency  benefits  for  companies.  The  enabling 
effects of cloud computing for the green transition are significant: the move from on-premises data 
storage and processing to centralised cloud capacities already allows companies to become more 
sustainable  by  tapping  into  the  resource-saving  potential  of  enhanced  workload  flexibility, 
improved server utilisation rates and more energy-efficient infrastructure. In fact, a private-sector 
study  found  that  migration  to  the  public  cloud  can  reduce  Co2  emissions  by  59  million  tons  per 
year, a number equal to taking 22 million cars off the road154.  

Cloud  and  edge  computing  enables  more  than  just  file  storage  and  agile  emailing.  It  is  a  key 
enabler for emerging technologies like AI, big data and digital ledger technologies. As such, cloud 
computing  underpins  many  of  the  technologies  that  unlock  innovative  use  cases  for  the  green 
transition. This dynamic is underscored by the move to edge computing which offers the potential 
to process data closer to the source.  

In  2018,  the  energy  consumption  of  data  centres  in  the  EU  amounted  to  76.8  TWh/a,  which 
corresponded to 2.7% of total EU electricity demand. The growing reliance on cloud computing to 
enable the above-mentioned technologies has triggered a stark increase in data centre capacities. 

151 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-welcomes-cooperation-between-entso-e-and-eu-dso-
entity-digital-electricity-grid-twin-2022-12-20_en 
152 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/empowering-consumers-leveraging-digital-technology-
facilitate-voluntary-energy-reductions 
153 C(2022) 9264 final 
154 Accenture (2020), The Green Behind the Cloud. 

52 

 
 
 
 
This increase has more than off-set the significant efficiency gains achieved in recent years at the 
levels of hardware, software, and infrastructure. As a consequence, the total energy consumption 
of data centres in Europe is increasing, although at a rate that is modest in relation to the overall 
increase in data processing. By 2025, the energy consumption of data centres is expected to reach 
92.6 TWh/a, a 21% increase compared to 2018. Targeted policy intervention has the potential to 
unlock significant savings: Studies suggest that by exploiting all policy potentials, it will be possible 
to reduce the energy consumption of data centres to the 2010 level155. 

In  parallel,  the  contribution  of  edge  data centres  to the  overall energy  demand  of  the  EU’s  data 
centres sector is also on the rise: by 2025, edge data centres are expected to account for 12% of 
the  total  energy  consumption  of  data  centres  in  the  EU  28156.  This  reflects  the  fundamental 
change  in  the  data  processing  paradigm  leading  to  80%  of  data  processing  at  the  edge  of  the 
network  by  2025  as  envisioned  in  the  European  Strategy  for  Data.  However,  the  full  diversity  of 
edge infrastructures and devices is not entirely represented by edge data centres. The analysis of 
sustainability for edge computing must also take into account the analysis of the energy usage and 
sustainability  of  medium  and  low-end  edge  devices  and  analytics  processes,  as  well  as  their 
connection with network transmission energy consumption.  

Data centres also consume large volumes of water and produce significant amounts of electronic 
waste.  And  while  the  workload  of  data  centres  is  growing  rapidly,  energy  and  water  and  other 
resources  needed  to  produce  electronic  components  are  becoming  scarcer.  In  recent  years,  this 
dynamic  has  given  rise  to  public  backlash  against  data  centre  investment  projects.  Under  the 
Digitalisation of Energy Action Plan, the Commission is currently evaluating how to best integrate 
the excess heat and water used by data centres into the general energy systems. The aim of the 
ongoing  study  is  to  understand  the  drivers,  obstacles  and  opportunities  for  data  centre  energy 
system integration from the technological, regulatory and economic perspectives, including rising 
public opposition to the establishment of new data centres157.  

Against the backdrop of these developments and as outlined in the Digital Strategy and the Digital 
Decade Policy Programme, the EU is taking the lead in making data centres climate-neutral, highly 
energy-efficient and sustainable by 2030. A mix of existing instruments, reviews of legislation, and 
new  initiatives  are  paving  the  way  towards  attaining  this  goal.  A  first  step  will  be  creating  full 
transparency  on  the  resource  intensity  of  data  storage  and  processing.  The  revised  Energy 
Efficiency  Directive  requires  to  consider  the  reuse  of  heat  and  water  when  planning  new  data 
centres  or  substantially  refurbishing  existing  ones 
includes  reporting  and  transparency 
requirements  for  the  energy  performance  of  data  centres.  By  15  May  2024  and  annually 
thereafter, Member States will collect  and make publicly available the sustainability performance 
from owners and operators of data centres in their territory with an installed IT power demand of 
at least 500kW. The Directive also stipulates that sustainability considerations must play a stronger 
role in the planning and operations of data centres.  

The Regulation on Eco-design limits the environmental impact of servers and data storage products 
by  setting  requirements  on  their  minimum  efficiency  and  maximum  consumption.  Similarly,  in 
fulfilling  the  Digital Decade  Policy  Programme’s  target  for  edge  nodes,  the  resource  efficiency of 
the to-be-deployed edge nodes should be considered by design with the purpose of achieving net-

155 Montevecchi, F., Stickler, T., Hintemann, R., Hinterholzer, S. (2020). Energy-efficient Cloud Computing 
Technologies and Policies for an Eco-friendly Cloud Market. Final Study Report. Vienna. 
156 Idem 124; EU 28: 26 Member States and Norway and Iceland 
157 Survey on synergies between data centres and energy systems | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
(europa.eu) 

53 

 
 
 
 
zero  carbon  impact.  Thus,  edge  nodes  are  built  and  operated  in  an  energy-efficient  way,  with  a 
focus on lowering their greenhouse gas emissions over their entire lifecycle and operation. 

2.3.2  The net environmental effect of Artificial Intelligence 

Artificial  intelligence  (AI)  has  the  potential  not  just  to  promote  economic  growth  and  social 
well-being,  but  also  to  help  achieve  global  sustainability  goals.  AI  applications  can  have  a 
beneficial environmental impact on different levels, such as optimising existing processing, enable 
new  sustainable  business  models,  support  citizens  in  their  green  transition,  and  improve  our 
understanding of environmental and climate risks and support mitigation and adaptation efforts. 

For example, AI can contribute to optimise existing processes to make them more efficient and 
environmentally  friendly.  This  includes  examples  such  as  optimising  electric  grid  management, 
energy use of buildings, making mineral processing operations more efficient, or increasing use of 
public  transport  through  planning  routes  based  on  passengers’  needs.  It  also  helps  minimising 
waste  and  to  reduce  the  use  of  pesticides  in  precision  farming.  Typically,  in  these  sector-specific 
developments, environmental effect is coupled with efficiency improvements for financial gain. 

it 

At the same time, training and deploying AI systems requires massive amounts of computational 
resources with their own environmental impacts. While data centre energy use has remained flat 
at  around  1%  of  (growing)  global  electricity  demand despite  large  growth  in  workloads  and  data 
is  paramount  to  develop  energy-efficient  technologies  that  can  minimise  the 
traffic, 
environmental  impact  and  cost  of  training  and  deploying  emerging models  such  as  GPT-3, which 
include a number of parameters several orders of magnitude larger than their predecessors’ (175 
billion parameters). The most promising technologies in this regard include: i) sparsification, which 
involves  pruning  unnecessary  connections  and  using  sparse  matrix  operations,  ii)  neuromorphic 
computing,  which  aims  at  adopting  brain-inspired  hardware  for  emulating  the  energy  efficiency 
(~20 watts) and adaptability of the human brain, and iii) quantum computing, which leverages the 
principles of quantum mechanics to process information more efficiently than classical computers. 
It  is  worth  mentioning  that,  recently,  a  European  AI  company,  Aleph  Alpha,  has  achieved  a 
significant advance in AI compute efficiency, with the sparsification of a 13bn parameter AI model 
down to just 2.6 bn parameters158. 

The  overall  impact  of  AI  on  sustainability  is  determined  by  the  balance  of  the  positive  and 
negative environmental impacts of specific solutions. In order to tilt the balance in favour of the 
environment, using AI for applications that reduce the carbon footprint of our economy is one of 
the priorities of the AI research funded under Horizon Europe. Numerous EU-funded projects and 
calls  are  dedicated  to  improving  sustainability  either  in  employing  AI  technologies  to  reduce  the 
environmental impact on some application sectors or in reducing the energy usage of AI solutions, 
for example:  

-  CLARUS  introduces  an  innovative  solution  connecting  the  sustainable  paradigm  of  the  food 

industry with AI and data technologies to reduce energy and water consumption;  

-  ReconCycle tackles the complex issue of electronic waste recycling via the development of an 

AI-driven, self-reconfigurable robotic solution;  

- 

- 

SustainML  develops  an  interactive  design  framework  and  models  for  developers  to  reduce 
emissions and energy usage throughout the life cycle of AI applications;  

The  call  HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-CNECT  is  targeting  projects  that  yield  unbiased, 
robust, trustworthy, model- and data-optimised AI solutions;  

158 https://www.ecinews.fr/fr/graphcore-et-aleph-alpha-presentent-un-modele-dia-a-80-sparsifie/  

54 

 
 
 
 
- 

In  September  2023  the  EU  funded  research  project  ELIAS  (European  Lighthouse  of  AI  for 
Sustainability)  is  planned  to  start  with  a  funding  of  EUR  11  million  with  the  aim  to  identify 
domains where AI can have a transformative impact on economic growth, as well as focus on 
devising new approaches for reducing the energy requirements of AI systems. 

2.3.3  Linking digital and green through smart investments 

As  shown  by  the  EIB  2023  survey,  the  EU  is  a  global  leader  in  the  development  of  new 
technologies that combine digital and green innovations. While Europe appears to lag behind the 
US  for  digital  innovation  and  patents,  the  survey  highlights  EU’s  strength  in  the  development  of 
new green technologies. A large share of EU patenting activities is concentrated in climate change 
technology and the EU leads on green innovation that incorporates digital technologies.  

The  survey  also  shows a clear link  between business investments in digital and in green:  Firms 
that make use of advanced digital technologies tend to invest more often  in measures to build 
resilience and tackle challenges related to climate change. They are more likely to report that they 
have  invested  in  adaptation  strategies,  strategies  that  involve  changing  procedures  and/or 
operations  to  increase  the  organisation’s  resilience,  and  measures  to  reduce  greenhouse  gas 
emissions.  If  used  in  the  right  way,  emerging  digital  technologies  can  be  a  competitive  asset  for 
business to tackle environmental challenges.  

Figure 3 - Climate investment (% of firms) 

a) 

Investments to mitigate the physical risk 
of climate change 

Investments  to  reduce  greenhouse  gas 

b) 
emissions 

40

30

20

10

0

100
80
60
40
20
0

EU

US

EU

US

No advanced digital technologies

No advanced digital technologies

User of advanced digital technologies

User of advanced digital technologies

Source: EIBIS 2022. 

Source: EIBIS 2022. 

Question:  Has  your  company  developed  or 
invested  in  any  of  the  following  measures  to 
build  resilience  to  the  physical  risks  to  your 
company caused by climate change? 

Is  your  company 

Question: 
investing  or 
implementing  any  of  the  following  to  reduce 
greenhouse  gas  emissions?  Less  polluting 
renewable 
technologies,  energy  efficiency, 
recycling, 
energy,  waste  minimisation, 
sustainable transport options. 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 4 - Investments to tackle climate change (% of firms) 

a)  Already invested 

b) Plans to invest 

80

60

40

20

0

60

40

20

0

EU

US

EU

US

No advanced digital technologies

No advanced digital technologies

User of advanced digital technologies

User of advanced digital technologies

Source: EIBIS 2022. 

Question:  Which  of  the  following  applies  to  your  company  regarding  investments  to  tackle  the 
impacts of weather events and to help reduce carbon emissions? Company has already invested, 
company invested this year, company intends to invest over the next three years.  

2.3.4  A digital project for the environment: Destination Earth (DestinE) 

To boost the EU’s ability to predict and manage environmental challenges and support sustainable 
development, the European Commission brings together under the Green Deal European scientific 
and industrial excellence  to develop a very high precision digital model of the Earth, Destination 
Earth (DestinE)159.  

DestinE  will  leverage  the  EU’s  substantial  investments  and  activities  in  high-performance 
computing  (HPC),  artificial  intelligence  (AI),  cloud  computing,  high-speed  connectivity  networks, 
data  from  multiple  sources  (space,  in-situ,  socio-economic  data).  To  ensure  consistency  of 
developments and sharing of best practices, DestinE is closely linked to Member State initiatives in 
the  area  and,  representing  an  open  digital  infrastructure,  ultimately  aims  to  integrate  other 
initiatives, best practice models and data resources. It will bring together European scientific and 
industrial  excellence  to  provide  the  scale  of  effort  and  knowledge  needed  to  manage  the  green 
transition.  

Concretely,  DestinE  will  bring  unprecedented  prediction  and  simulation  capabilities,  going 
beyond current sustainability policy decision support tool development initiatives on both EU and 
Member State levels (e.g., Copernicus) by significantly increasing the levels of precision (down to 
km  scales  at  global  level)  as  well  as  including  impact  sectors  and  user-defined  scenario  building 
capabilities. As a digital twin of the Earth, it will fully integrate observations with an Earth system 
model  and  human  subsystems  for  water,  food  and  energy  resource  management,  to  assess  the 
impacts on, and influences from, these subsystems on Earth system trajectories. It will allow us to 
assess possible changes and their causes consistently across local and global spatial scales and over 
timescales stretching from days to decades.  

Kicked  off  in  December  2021,  DestinE  aims  to  develop  in  the  first  stage  a  series  of  different 
applications  and  services  in  relation  to  two  key  thematic  areas  such  as  extreme  weather 
monitoring  for  a  better  identification  of  expected  weather-induced  harmful  impacts  and  their 
location  in  time  and  space  before  they  occur,  or  predicting  effects  of  climate  change  and 

159 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/destination-earth  

56 

 
 
 
 
 
 
developing  climate  change  adaptation  strategies  (as  part  of  the  EU’s  Mission  on  Adaptation  to 
Climate Change160).  

These  developments  are  undertaken  on  behalf  of  the  Commission  by  three  implementing 
institutions  -  ESA,  ECMWF,  EUMETSAT  -  together  with  a  huge  number  of  scientific  and  business 
institutions in Member States. A first version of the DestinE platform, including the first two digital 
twins for climate change adaptation and extreme weather events, powered by the European High 
Performance  Computing  Joint  Undertaking  (EuroHPC  JU)161,  is  expected  to  go  live  in  mid-2024. 
Subsequent  phases  of  DestinE  will  refine  models  and  data,  identify  new  users,  and  address 
additional thematic areas. 

2.3.5  Common European Green Deal Data Space  

The  Green  Deal  Data  Space  will  facilitate  access  to  interoperable  data  combined  with  digital 
infrastructure,  analytics  and  artificial  intelligence  solutions.  This  is  expected  to  boost  evidence-
based decisions and expand the capacity to understand and tackle environmental challenges. 

The Green Deal Data  space  use-cases  are  driven by the needs from the  following thematic areas 
and  EU  strategic  targets:  Biodiversity  (including  Forest  related  strategies),  Zero-pollution  targets, 
Climate change mitigation and adaptation targets and Circular economy.  

Use-cases are currently (Q3 2023) being analysed and identified via several initiatives and ongoing 
Digital Europe and Horizon Europe projects162.  

For example in the case of the Circular Economy, the Green Deal Data Space is encompassing smart 
circular applications to make available the most relevant data for enabling circular value creation 
along supply chains such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP)163.  

2.3.6  Way forward 

Focusing  only  on  minimising  the  environmental  footprint  of  ICT  sector  is  not  sufficient  for  it  to 
deliver a positive contribution to EU Green Deal goals. Likewise, it is not possible to expect positive 
environmental  impacts  of increased  digitalisation  without  keeping  under  control  the  footprint  of 
digitalisation and the indirect rebound effects.  

Beyond  ongoing  actions  already  mentioned  above,  a  science-based  assessment  methodology  on 
the “net  environmental  impact”  of  the  digitalisation  and  facilitating  the  collection of  evidence of 
the net environmental impacts  of digital solutions across the EU will be  an important  focus.  This 
aim is pursued currently by the European Green Digital Coalition (greendigitalcoaliton.eu).  

160 https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-
open-calls/horizon-europe/eu-missions-horizon-europe/adaptation-climate-change_en  
161 https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/index_en  
162 GREAT , AD4GD , B3, FAIRiCUBE, USAGE 
163 CIRPASS – Digital Product Passport (cirpassproject.eu) 

57 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3  Linking  the  Digital  Decade  with  EU  cities,  communities  and 

regions 

The  success  of  EU’s  digital  transformation  will  not  be  possible  without  the  involvement  of  all 
actors at all levels. The multiple references to regions in the policy programme demonstrate the 
importance that co-legislators have placed on ensuring an inclusive approach that goes beyond EU 
and  national  level.  Through  co-creation  with  citizens,  we  aim  to  bring  the  economic  and  social 
benefits of this transformation to all local communities and implement an inclusive digital Europe, 
with powerful digital services, technologies, infrastructures and skills. 

Regions  and  local communities  have  a  key  role  to play  in  delivering  digital Decade  targets  and 
can  effectively  contribute  to  the  Digital  Decade,  via  contributions  to  national  roadmaps, 
involvement  in  European  Digital  Infrastructure  Consortia  (EDICs),  direct  interaction  through  the 
FUTURIUM platform164  set  up by the Commission and by  taking ownership of the digital decade 
approach while setting up and implementing their own digital strategies. There are thus ongoing 
discussions to set up an EDIC on Local Digital Twins for which five Member States have already pre-
notified it to the Commission early June and more are interested to join this initiative. 

In times when cities and communities are looking to digital solutions to tackle a growing range of 
interconnected  challenges,  the  Digital  Decade  can  boost  regional  efforts  by  showing  the 
‘European  Way’,  notably  with  the  guidance  of  the  Declaration  on  Digital  Rights  and  Principles, 
ensuring that digital solutions support the creation of places where people are fully respected and 
enjoy  living  and  working.  This  includes  approaches  to  smart  urban  mobility,  energy  efficiency, 
sustainable  housing,  digital  public  services,  and  civic-led  governance.  Large-scale  uptake  and 
upscale of these solutions are crucial to help our cities and communities meet their climate targets 
and  reduce  their  environmental  footprint,  while  fostering  citizen  participation  and  bringing 
prosperity to all types of business, including SMEs and start-ups. The Digital Decade is also creating 
new opportunities for cities and regions to share views and learn from each other’s experiences.  

Regions  and  municipalities  also  share  many  of  the  key  challenges  obstructing  the  digital 
transformation on national and European level. For example, a recent survey165 undertaken by the 
EIB  shows  that  access  to  digital  and  technical  skills  represent  major  obstacles  to  the  digital 
transformation  of  more  than  half  (58%)  of  municipalities  in  the  European  Union.  Technical 
capabilities  needed  to  access  public  or  EU  funds  and  increase  investment  as  well  the  lack  of 
environmental and climate assessment skills are also identified as major barriers.  

164 Digital Decade Report | Futurium (europa.eu)  
165 EIB, May 2023, Digitalisation in Europe 2022-2023 
https://www.eib.org/attachments/lucalli/20230112_digitalisation_in_europe_2022_2023_en.pdf  

58 

 
 
 
 
Figure 5 - Municipal administrative digital capability and sophistication (% of municipalities)  

100
80
60
40
20
0

Integrity/protection
of IT systems

Provision of digital
or online
government
services

Assessment of
adequacy of digital
infrastructure

Deployment/use of
remote sensors

Dedicated staff
working on
digitalisation plans

Has already implemented

Plans to implement in 2022-2026 period

No plans to implement

Source: EIB Municipality Survey 2022.  

Question:  Thinking  about  digital  technologies:  for  each  of  the  following,  please  tell  me  whether 
your municipality has already implemented, has plans to implement in the 2022-2026 period or has 
no plans to implement in the 2022-2026 period. 

Figure 6 - Municipal skill constraints (% of respondents) 

Environmental and Climate
Engineering and Technical
Digital skills
Legal
Tendering and Procurement
Financial Knowledge

Source: EIB Municipality Survey 2022. 

69

62

58

53

48

42

3.1  Contributing to the Digital Decade at local level: The Living-in.EU movement 
At local level, the promising Living-in.EU movement embraces the Digital Decade as the European 
way  of  digital  transformation  in  cities  and  communities.  It  is  led  by  regions,  cities  and 
communities  are  themselves  supported  strongly  by  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  and  by  the 
European Commission via the Digital Europe programme. Set up by cities in 2019, the movement is 
growing  constantly  and  boasts  more  than  150  signatories  and  more  than  130  institutional 
supporters,  representing  already  10%  of  EU  population,  today.  It  encourages  cities  and 
communities  to  scale  up  commonly  agreed,  interoperable  digital  solutions  to  provide  more 
informed,  innovative  and  high-quality  services  to  the  public  and  to  businesses.  It  promotes  EU 
digital  sovereignty,  especially  on  local  data  management  and  an  inclusive  approach  so  that  the 
digital  transformation  will  also  benefit  citizens  living  in  small  and  medium  size  cities  and  rural 
areas.  

Since  October  2022,  the  Digital  Europe  Program  project  The  Governance  of  the  Living-in.EU 
community  (Go  Li.EU)  manages  the  Living-in.EU  community  with  the  aim  to  structure  and 
coordinate  a  broad  range  of  activities  for  digital  transformation  at  the  local  level.  The  Mayors’ 
Digital Assembly acts as the political advisory body that provides strategic orientation to the Living-
in.EU movement. The first Digital Mayors Assembly took place in June in the frame of the Brussels 
Urban  Summit  and  has  been  the  occasion  for  mayors  to  debate  the  political  priorities  of  the 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
movement  and to tackle  a range of interconnected challenges  -  governance,  digital divide, urban 
mobility, energy efficiency, and digital public services - while ensuring environmental sustainability 
in line with the European Green Deal. The Assembly is co-chaired by the mayor of Oulu (FI) and the 
mayor of Sant Boi de Llobregat (ES).  

The approach that is pursued is to consider that digital transformation must be beneficial to all EU 
citizens to avoid a digital divide that could increase economic and social disparities, undermine the 
single market and delay the digital transformation. Therefore, local administrations are working to 
bridge  this  digital  divide.  This  topic  has  gotten  more  interest  even  since  the  pandemic  and  is  a 
crucial  point  of  attention  while  public  services  are  being  moved  online.  Cities  undertake  many 
activities  to  support  vulnerable  groups,  such  as  offering  training  courses,  buddy  systems, 
certifications  programmes,  device  give-aways,  free  connectivity,  preferred  subscriptions,  etc.  In 
2022,  seven  cities  (Bordeaux  Metropole,  Barcelona,  Amsterdam,  Murcia,  Rotterdam,  Ghent, 
Genoa)  endorsed  by  the  Cities  Coalition  for  Digital  Rights  have  initiated  work  towards  the 
development of local observatories for the digital divide to help define and measure it at the local 
level.  

Besides building digital skills, local authorities need to build easier-to-use digital public services that 
provide clear functionalities responding to the needs of citizens. Several initiatives contribute to a 
better  understanding  how  cities  and  regions  are  delivering  effective  digital  services  to  their 
citizens.  The  UserCentriCities  Benchmarking  Dashboard166  is  based  on  a  list  of  curated  indicators 
and  is  useful  to  rank  the  performance of  European cities  and  regions  in  designing  and  delivering 
digital services that focus on their citizens and their needs.  

Another promising tool called LORDIMAS is developed by the Living-in.EU movement to measure 
the digital maturity at the local level.  LORDIMAS stands for Local and Regional Digital Indicators 
Maturity  Assessment.  Since  there  is  no  methodology  and  instrument  today  to  measure  and 
monitor the digital transformation at local level such as the well-known national Digital Economy 
and  Society  Index  (DESI),  this  tool  could  feed  into  the  Digital  Decade  monitoring  system  in  the 
future. It is an interactive real time assessment tool to help local municipalities understand where 
they  stand  in  their  digital  journey,  compare  themselves  with  peers,  access  best  practices  and 
relevant material, as well as help national and EU-level policymakers provide better policy support 
and targeted funding.  

LORDIMAS was announced at the first Mayors Digital Assembly in June 2023.  It should reach in 
Autumn  this  year  with  about  85  000  EU  municipalities  via  a  strong  and  wide  communication 
campaign to collect a critical mass of local data.  

The EU’s cohesion policy and funding provides a unique opportunity to support local and regional 
digital transformation efforts. By focusing in particular on areas where private investments are not 
able  to  deliver,  it  can  help  to  ensure  a  fair  and  inclusive  digital  transformation,  so  that  digital 
connectivity  is  available  to  all  regions.  For  example,  the  European  Urban  Initiative,  set  up  in 
September  last  year,  is  testing  new  solutions  to  foster  digital  governance  and  improve  public 
services,  making  interactions  with  public  authorities  faster  and  simpler  with  a  budget  of 
EUR 450 million.  

The  H2020  project  AURORAL  focuses  on  increasing  connectivity  and  delivering  a  digital 
environment  of  smart  objects  interoperable  services  platforms  able  to  trigger  dynamic  rural 
ecosystems of innovation chains, applications and services. In this way, the projects contribute to 

166  Important  findings  from  the  first  UserCentriCities  benchmarking  dashboard  exercise  (Apr-Oct  2022)  on 
how  European  cities  and  regions  are  performing  in  designing  and  delivering  user-centric  digital  public 
services can be found here. It includes data from 13 cities and regions (Barcelona, the Catalonia region, the 
Emilia  Romagna  region,  Espoo,  Gothenburg,  Helsinki,  Kyiv,  the  Kronoberg  region,  Madrid,  Milan,  Murcia, 
Rotterdam, and Tallinn).  

60 

 
 
 
creating a cross-domain applications through large-scale pilots in seven European regions. Its main 
impact is to bridge the interoperability gap at the local level and create markets for services in rural 
areas. 

Similarly,  the  H2020  project  dRural  aims  at  injecting  new  chances  for  the  development  of 
European  rural  areas  and  communities.  The  project  is  co-developing  and  rolling  up  a  digital 
marketplace of innovative services and business models to improve quality of life and prosperity. 
An  important  aspect  of  the  dRural  project  lies  in  the  ambition  to  overcome  the  digital  divide 
between  rural  and  urban  areas  by  exploiting  the  potential  offered  by  connectivity  and 
digitalisation in rural areas.  

Finally, the European Parliament Preparatory Action DT4REGIONS is another example of regional 
collaboration on the digital transformation. It aims at creating a European Platform for Regions to 
enable  AI  and  big  data  collective  solutions  and  to  enhance  public  administration  efficiency  and 
effectiveness in user-centric services. By bringing together 14 partners from across Europe into a 
community  of  practice,  the  project  showed  how  to  put  the  everyday  needs  of  a  network  of 
regions  at  its  heart. It  established  partnerships  with  related  initiatives  (e.g.,  Living-in.EU  and 
projects  Go  Li.EU  and  AURORAL),  and  provide  recommendations  to  extend  AI  platforms  with  AI 
functionalities for regions. 

3.2  Local Digital twins/CitiVerse/New European Bauhaus 

There are many established and new technology solutions available to support local communities 
in  their  efforts.  Some  of  these  are  particularly  suited  to  integrate  transdisciplinary  efforts  and 
include citizens and decision makers in the decision-making process. The European Commission is 
striving to help EU communities to build local digital ecosystems that enable innovative solutions 
and applications to emerge. A local digital twin is an example of such innovative tool that builds on 
cross-sector  data.  It  helps  understand  the  data  that  is  available  by  virtualising  the  physical 
environment  and  developing  modelling  scenarios  linked  to  specific  use  cases.  It  also  spurs  the 
development  of  applications  increasingly  building  on  real-time  data,  including  simulation  and 
forecasts.  Finally,  these  developments  will  eventually  permit  the  adoption  of  virtual  reality  and 
immersive technology that not only supports architects, artists and environmentalist in co-creating 
and  re-designing  beautiful  and  greener  environments  but  also  enhance  citizen  engagement  in 
many ways. 
As  part  of  the  Commission’s  New  European  Bauhaus167  initiative,  the  project  in  the  DIGITAL 
programme  (”digiNEB.EU”)  supports  the  green  transition  by  increasing  the  adoption  of  digital 
solutions.  It  bridges  the  digital  and  NEB  communities  and  raises  awareness  around  EU  digital 
solutions  for  all  NEB  stakeholders,  establishing  a  pan-European  digital  ecosystem.  Involving 
participants  from  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Sweden  and  Belgium.  The  central  element  of  the 
digiNEB.eu ecosystem is the platform, which supports delivery to the various stakeholders of value-
added information, services, engagement and discussion opportunities, bringing together research, 
industry and business actors, including start-ups/SMEs, as well as policymakers, experts and NGOs. 
The platform will host a series of assets, which will help ignite the necessary engagement and fuel 
the  dialogue  to  sustain  the  ecosystem.  The  project  will  contribute  to  the  transformation  of  the 
enabling environment for innovation by mapping exercise designed to help policy makers monitor 
progress and alignment of the financial instruments and deploy effective strategies too.  

In  the  context  of  the  planned  Commission  initiative  on  virtual  worlds,  the  Commission  has 
proposed  to  support  the  development  of  the  so-called  CitiVerse  (“Citi”  for  citizen)  in  the  Digital 
Europe work programme for 2023 to 2024. This initiative will bring the EU industry, including SMEs, 

167 New European Bauhaus: beautiful, sustainable, together. (europa.eu) 

61 

 
 
 
 
and cities together in developing the different layers of virtual reality worlds that may be useful for 
cities.  CitiVerse  could  eventually  be  used  by  citizens  to  navigate  a  city  and  discover  its  cultural, 
historical  or  touristic  assets,  with  businesses  offering  innovative  services  related  to  tourism, 
entertainment,  shopping  and  urban  planning,  and  cities  to  manage  their  infrastructure  and 
sustainable mobility. 

3.3  Smart communities ecosystem interoperability and AI 

Local and regional administrations face interlinked and often unique challenges when it comes to 
digital transformation. A  lack of interoperability  leads to  fragmented delivery  of digital services, 
which means higher costs for citizens, businesses as well as for the administration.  

At  the  same  time,  local  and  regional  administrations  are  often  more  agile  than  their  national 
innovation 
counterparts  when 
procurement practices or technology start-ups.  

it  comes  to  experimenting  with  emerging  technologies, 

The European Commission is drawing on several initiatives to increase interoperability at the local 
level,  especially  to  support  the  public  sector.  The  Interoperable  Europe  Act168  is  to  make  digital 
public  services  truly  work  across  borders,  sectors  and  different  levels  of  government,  especially 
through the European Interoperability Framework for Smart Cities and Communities (EIF4SCC)169  

Involving  cities  and  regions  is  indispensable  if  we  want  to  make  interoperable  digital  services  a 
reality. Not only because they constitute the ‘first and last mile’ of public service delivery, but also 
to  tap  into  their  considerable  innovation  capacity.  A  representative  of  the  Committee  of  the 
Regions will have a seat at the future Interoperable Europe Board so that cities, communities and 
regions  can  be  part  of  setting  out  the  Interoperable  Europe  Agenda  and  be  fully  involved  in 
discussing interoperability issues. Additionally, cities, communities and regions are by far the first 
source  of  public  procurement  and  can  significantly  shape  the  demand  market  for  open  and 
inclusive IT solutions. 

Furthermore,  it  is worth  noting  that  the  responsible  use  of  artificial  intelligence  (AI)  is  a  topic of 
great  interest  to local authorities. For example, the city of Amsterdam has published  contractual 
terms for the procurement of AI and the city of Helsinki has implemented an AI register. Building 
on  these  good  practices,  European  municipalities170  have  jointly  developed  a  free-to-use,  open-
source algorithm transparency standard to support the responsible use of AI in cities. The standard 
sets common guidelines on the information to be collected on algorithms and their use by a city, 
offering a safeguard for people whose data may be used by algorithms. It creates a validated model 
that other municipalities can use straight away, without investing further resources. This is how the 
digital transformation is taking place at the local level. 

3.4  A common project at EU level for local communities  

At least 14 Member States expressed their interest in the common European project “setting up a 
European  Digital  Infrastructure  Consortium  (EDIC)171  around  the  establishment  of  a  Network  of 
Local  Digital  Twins  in  Europe”  that  operate  between  them  by  joining  existing  and  future  digital 
infrastructures (EU, national, regional and local), manage data across borders and mutualise costs 

168 Interoperable Europe Act Proposal (europa.eu) 
169 Proposal for a European Interoperability Framework for Smart Cities and Communities (EIF4SCC) | 
Shaping Europe’s digital future (europa.eu) 
170 The scheme was implemented by Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels, Eindhoven, Mannheim, Rotterdam, and 
Sofia. 
171 This new instrument was created under the EUR-Lex - 52021PC0574 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu) 
Regulation.  

62 

 
 
 
 
 
of investments (EU, national, regional and local as well as from private companies) and building on 
Digital Europe Programme enablers.  

The  envisaged  EDIC  of  a  Network  of  Local  Digital  Twins  relates  to  the  digitalisation  of  public 
services,  and  it  aims  to  make  cities  and  communities  fit  for  the  digital  age  and  furthermore  to 
become more sustainable, more resilient and a better place for citizens to live and work. Beyond 
developing a toolbox for digital twins, this EDIC proposal would seek to establish the foundations 
of a European “CitiVerse”.  

Building  on  existing  developments,  this  EDIC  proposes  to  develop  a  common  and  open  digital 
infrastructure enabled by interoperability and mutual agreements to avoid further fragmentation 
of  the  European  digital  ecosystem  and  enable  cities  (especially  cross  border)  to  tackle  joint 
challenges more effectively.  

This project can also consolidate the building blocks for Local Digital Twins and propose new ones. 
It  can  build  and  extend  DEP  building  blocks:  EU  Smart  Cities  and  Communities  dataspace 
ecosystem;  the  Testing  and  Experimentation  Facility on  SCC;  AI solutions;  AR/VR/XR  visualisation 
and modelling tools; Digital Innovation Hubs; HPC services; cloud and edge computing usage. It can 
also  extend  interoperable  software  solutions  co-created  with  industry  using  citizen-friendly  and 
immersive technologies. This EDIC can potentially further extend the capabilities of the European 
data space for smart communities and generate synergies and resources efficiency enabled by re-
using  solutions.  The  public  sector  would  be  able  to  tap  into  available  solutions  to  support 
interoperability at all levels.  

The EDIC could also serve as the long-term sustainability mechanism for the EU Toolbox for Local 
Digital  Twins  of  components,  reference  architectures,  building  blocks  and  models  that  will  be 
made available to all communities in Europe. It could host new applications that bring benefit and 
wealth at the local level. Lastly, the EDIC would facilitate the planned linkage of Local Digital Twins 
with  DestinE6  to  address  better  climate  change  action.  This  EDIC could  also  take  on  board  other 
digital infrastructures or solutions for the benefits of cities and communities.  

63 

 
 
4  The external dimension of the Digital Decade 

Through EU’s international engagement (bilateral, multilateral, multi-stakeholder, standardisation), 
the EU is proactively projecting our human-centric model, legislative solutions and norms globally, 
seeking  to  inspire  global  partners  to  align  their  digital  policies  with  the  EU  and  promote  EU 
interests.  By  cooperating  with  advanced  partners,  we  are  seeking  to  enhance  our  strategic 
autonomy in the field of emerging technologies such as semiconductors and quantum. 

The  EU  is  drawing  on  a  combination  of  regulatory  cooperation,  capacity  building  and  skills, 
investment in international cooperation and research partnerships to provide a competitive offer 
to our global partners. International cooperation activities are performed across the four cardinal 
points  of  the  Digital  Compass: 
infrastructures,  digital  transformation  of  business,  digital 
transformation of public services and digital skills. 

This  approach  relies  on  leveraging  international  digital  partnerships,  building  on  our  strong  ties 
with like-minded partners. It is structured across three levels:  

1.  Trade and Technology Councils and Digital Partnerships 

2.  Regional Alliances  

3.  Digital Dialogues 

The mobilisation of funding as part of the Global Gateway strategy underpins EU action in all these 
areas , while coherence of our action is ensured in line with the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs 
Council of July 2022. 

Furthermore,  engagement  in  multilateral  fora  and  cooperation  with  the  EU  Neighbourhood  is 
prioritised  with  a  focus on  candidate  and  pre-candidate  countries  to enhance  their  alignment  to 
the EU’s policy and regulatory agenda.  

4.1  Trade  and  Technology  Councils  and  Digital  Partnerships  with  like-minded 

countries 

Through  the  EU-United States  Trade  and  Technology Council (EU-US TTC),  the  EU  has  advanced 
cooperation  in  key  areas  such  as  emerging  technologies,  secure  and  resilient  connectivity, 
protection of human rights and values online and facilitation of trade. 

In  this  framework,  a  joint  Task  Force  to  address  open  questions  on  science  and  technology 
cooperation in quantum technologies  has been established  with the aim of  seeking to advance a 
trust-based R&I collaboration based on reciprocal access to respective R&D programs. Cooperation 
is ongoing on the implementation of the Joint Roadmap on Evaluation and Measurement Tools for 
Trustworthy  AI  and  Risk  Management  and  on  AI  for  public  good,  which  will  seek  to  make  the 
results of joint R&I cooperation available to third countries to address key societal challenges. Next 
to  this,  a  joint  early  warning  mechanism  for  semiconductor  supply  chain  disruptions  was 
established.  are  also  advancing  on  joint  technical  specifications  on  key  areas  for  standardisation 
work on critical and emerging technologies and will accelerate cooperation to develop a common 
vision and roadmap on research and development for 6G wireless communication systems. 

The first EU-India Trade and Technology Council launched cooperation on microelectronics, Digital 
Public  Infrastructure  (DPI),  digital  skills  and  talents,  high  performance  computing  (HPC)  and 
quantum, AI, and ICT standardisation. This will enable EU companies to gain access to new markets 
and leverage India's technological expertise. 

Over  the  course  of  2022,  three  Digital  Partnerships  with  key  East  Asian  countries:  Japan,  the 
Republic  of  Korea  and  Singapore,  have  been  secured.  These  Partnerships  showcase  the  EU’s 
strategic engagement in the digital field with a pivotal region of the world. They aim at providing an 
overall framework for bilateral cooperation on digital policy and regulatory matters such as DFFT, 
platforms  and  AI,  on  our  positions  on  digital  matters  in  international  fora  and  on  research  and 
64 

 
 
 
investment  opportunities  in  cutting-edge  technologies  such  as  HPC,  semiconductors  and  5G/6G. 
The  Partnerships  include  agreed  Digital  Trade  Principles  as  key  deliverables  .  Over  the  next  two 
years,  the  EU  will  launch  and  deliver  new  joint  projects  with  its  partners  to  reinforce  mutual 
economic resilience, increase the EU’s excellence in R&I and boost competitiveness. A key project 
is  to  deploy  a  secure  and  direct  submarine  cable  between  the  EU and  Japan  and  the  rest of  the 
region  through  the  Arctic.  The  Council’s  authorisation  in  2023  to  open  negotiations  on  binding 
digital trade agreements with South Korea and with Singapore will also present an opportunity to 
build on and complement the EU’s existing trade relationship with these countries. 

With the successful start of the Partnerships in East Asia, our intention is to gradually engage with 
other  like-minded  countries.  We  are  currently  exploring  the  possibilities  for  a  digital  partnership 
with Canada to be announced at this year at the EU-Canada Summit. 

4.2  Regional alliances  

An EU-Africa Investment Package was agreed at the EU-Africa Summit in February 2022, including a 
number of flagships for the digital transition.  

An EU-Latin America and Caribbean Digital Alliance was launched in March 2023, providing a forum 
for  regular  high-level  bi-regional  dialogue  and  cooperation  on  priority  topics,  supported  by  a 
number of Global Gateway flagship initiatives.  

4.3  Digital Dialogues  

The EU’s  international  digital  partnerships  are  underpinned  by a  growing  programme  of  bilateral 
digital dialogues with key partners around the world.  

In the Latin America and Caribbean region, bilateral digital policy dialogues have been set up with 
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, to be complemented with a bi-regional dialogue established under 
the  EU-LAC  Digital  Alliance.  The  dialogues  aim  at  promoting  the  EU’s  human-centric  approach  to 
digital transformation in these countries, covering themes like regulatory convergence with the EU 
especially  on  key  areas  such  as  digital  markets  and  services  as  well  as  artificial  intelligence, 
alignment  with  EU  technical  norms  and  cybersecurity  standards,  deployment  of  secure  and 
resilient  digital  infrastructure  (including  5G),  stimulation  of  EU-led  value  chains  for  the  digital 
transformation of the economy, the development of digital government, addressing social inclusion 
through digital, and fostering global secure connectivity. 

In Asia, the EU has committed to holding a second High Level Dialogue on Digital with China in line 
with  the  conclusions  of  the  last  EU-China  Summit  of  1  April  2022.  The  Dialogue  could  address 
market  access  issues  in  the  digital  field  and  both  sides'  approaches  to  cutting-edge  technologies 
(e.g.,  semiconductors,  artificial  intelligence,  5G/6G),  as  well  as  legislation  in  the  fields  of 
cybersecurity and data protection.  

In  line  with  the  “One  China”  policy,  the  EU  maintains  a  Digital  Economy  Dialogue  with  Taiwan 
which  promotes  research  cooperation  in  areas  such  as  semiconductors  and  5G/6G,  regulatory 
cooperation  in  the  fields  of  data,  online  platforms  and  AI,  and  coordination  related  to  Internet 
Governance. 

This  programme  of  policy  dialogues  is  accompanied  by  a  growing  offer  of  digital  cooperation 
initiatives supported by instruments such as NDICI-Global Europe, the Connecting Europe Facility or 
Horizon Europe, in addition to Team Europe Initiatives gathering the contributions of EU Member 
States.  The  release  of  the  Global  Gateway  Communication  in  end  2021  marked  an  important 
milestone for advancing the Commission’s global approach on digital connectivity, leveraging more 
funds  to  this  end.  To  foster  a  Team  Europe  approach,  the  Commission  and  EU  Member  States 
joined  forces  to  establish  a  coordination  platform  aimed  at  strengthening  the  EU  global  role  in 

65 

 
 
 
 
support  of  a  human  centric  model  of  digital  transformation:  the  D4D  Hub.  The  results  of  these 
efforts are already visible on several flagship initiatives delivered on the ground, including:  

•  An  EU-Africa  Global  Gateway  Investment  Package  with  digital  flagships  for  the  digital 

transition  

•  An EU-Latin America and Caribbean Digital Alliance  

•  Digital  Economy  Packages  (DEPs)  are  to  start  as  of  2024  with  a  number  of  developing 
countries, the first being Nigeria with a robust package. The list of other countries DEPs is 
subject to decisions during the Mid-Term Review of the NDICI-Global Europe Instrument in 
2023 and 2024. 

4.4  EU candidate and pre candidate countries 

Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we have substantially stepped up our 
support  for  the  digital  transformation  of  Ukraine,  focusing  both  on  emergency  and  long-term 
measures:  

Emergency measures include:  

•  Supporting Ukraine’s immediate needs for ICT equipment; 

•  Securing  affordable  or  free  roaming  and  international  calls  for  Ukrainian  refugees  in 

Europe;  

•  Facilitating the recognition of the refugees’ electronic credentials in EU Member States; 

•  Coordinating EU Member States’ efforts aimed to enhance Ukraine’s cyber resilience; 

•  Fighting war-related disinformation. 

Long-term cooperation focuses on:  

•  A long-term roaming arrangement with Ukraine; 

•  Bilateral  recognition of electronic  trust  services  and electronic  identities  between  the  EU 

and Ukraine; 

•  Ukraine’s participation in BEREC (completed in June 2022); 

•  Ukraine’s association to the Digital Europe Programme (completed in September 2022);  

•  Ukraine’s  association  in  the  Connecting  Europe  Facility  (CEF)  -  Digital  programme 

(ongoing). 

Moreover,  the  EU  has  been  facilitating  a  voluntary  roaming  agreement  (a  Joint  Statement) 
between  EU  and  Ukrainian  operators.  Thanks  to  this  agreement,  around  4.5  million  Ukrainians 
enjoy roaming in Europe since the start of the war and can call back home at affordable rates or by 
using  free  mobile  internet.  In  parallel,  the  EU  has  been  working  towards  a  long-term  roaming 
arrangement with Ukraine through the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. A similar approach for 
roaming is being followed with Moldova, where efforts towards a long-term arrangement through 
the  EU-Moldova  Association  Agreement  are  to  be  complemented  by  short-to-medium  term 
voluntary agreements between operators on both sides. 

In the Western Balkans, the EU agenda of approximation to the EU policy framework and ‘acquis’ 
for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia remains 
valid,  supporting  the  yearly  negotiations  of  Chapter  10  (Information  Society  and  Media)  of  the 
Stabilisation and Association Agreements. While the transposition of EU ‘acquis’ into national laws 
is  advancing,  albeit  unevenly,  the  economies  in  the  region  face  several  challenges  for  which  EU 
support  should  continue.  This  includes  support  to  the  development  of  reliable  and  high-speed 
digital infrastructure, digital skills, and alignment with EU digital legislation.  

66 

 
 
 
In  June  2022,  the  Commission  held  its  first  Regulatory  Dialogue  with  the  Western  Balkans.  The 
Dialogue  touched  upon  a  broad  range  of  regulatory  reforms  and  policy  developments,  including 
the  European  Electronic  Communications  Code,  Broadband  Cost  Reduction  Directive, 
developments in 5G, the EU Cybersecurity Act, the NIS Directive and the 5G toolbox, DSA and DMA, 
the Data Governance Act and Data Act and the European Digital Identity. As stated in the 5th WB 
Digital  Summit  in  October  2022,  Pristina:  “(The  Western  Balkans)  appreciate  the  launch  of  the 
Regulatory Dialogue between the EU and Western Balkans, agree to work on efficient enforcement 
of  the  relevant  EU  acquis  and  priority  legislative  reforms,  and  reiterate  the  importance  of  the 
European  Commission’s  support  to  transformative  policies  and  green  transition  goals”.  The  2nd 
edition  of  the  Dialogue  has  taken  place  on  30  June  2023,  with  discussions  on  free  flow  of  data, 
interoperability and cybersecurity.  

On roaming, a Joint Declaration on the Reduction of Roaming charges for a first reduction in data 
consumption  was  signed  by  38  major  EU  and  Western  Balkans  operators  at  the  EU-Western 
Balkans Summit on 6 December 2022 in Tirana. Through their voluntary agreement, the operators 
committed to significantly reducing the gap between roaming and domestic fees for data usage in 
both directions between the EU and the Western Balkans. Maximum retail price levels (‘price caps') 
for 1 gigabyte will decrease from October 2023 to 2028 as follows: EUR 18 from 1 October 2023, 
EUR 14 from 2026, and EUR 9 from 2028. Yearly reviews are foreseen to assess impacts and next 
steps. 

in  preparation  under  the 

Instrument  of  Pre-Accession  (IPA) 

In  terms  of  financing,  the  project  EU4Digital  -  An  accelerated  digital  transition  for  the  Western 
Balkans  (WB),  currently 
III 
Programming Framework, is structured in line with cardinal points of the Digital Decade: (1) Secure 
in  across  the  region,  (2)  Enhancing 
infrastructure 
and  sustainable  digital  and  telecom 
interoperability of public services on the national and/or regional levels, and between the Western 
Balkans  and  the  EU,  (3)  Digitalisation  of  businesses  in  the  Western  Balkans,  (4)  Development  of 
digital skills. The proposed activities provide a framework for the development of regional and/or 
bilateral  pilots,  which  can  be  scaled  up  at  a  later  stage.  Activities  and  pilots  will  respond  to  the 
needs,  interests  and  the  state  of  play/progress  of  different  partners  in  the  region,  building  on 
already  existing  EU/WB  best  practices.  In  addition,  the  Digital  Europe  legal  act  allows  for  third 
countries’  participation  in  the  programme  through  association.  To  date,  Ukraine,  Albania,  North 
Macedonia,  Serbia,  Montenegro  and  Türkiye  have  signed  agreements  associating  them  to  the 
programme. 

4.5  Multilateral cooperation 

In  2022,  the  EU  made  significant  progress  on  the  promotion  of  the  EU  digital  agenda  at  the 
Düsseldorf G7 and at the G20 Bali Digital Ministers meetings. For example, on the Data Free Flows 
with Trust agenda, the G7 agreed on an action plan (with a specific focus on EU legal instruments 
used  to  transfer  data  with  protection).  G7  also  started  the  Hiroshima  process  on  AI 
recommendations.  In  the  G20,  countries  recognised  that  regulations  around  the  world  are 
converging to protect data around common principles. The G20 Indian presidency on 2023 put an 
important emphasis on Data for Development and referencing AI for development too. 
G7  also  started the  Hiroshima  process  on  AI  recommendations.  In  the  G20,  countries  recognised 
that regulations around the world are converging to protect data around common principles. The 
G20 Indian presidency on 2023 put a huge emphasis on Data for Development and referencing AI 
for development too. 

In  the  OECD,  the  EU  brought  to  conclusion  the  discussions  on  the  first-ever  international 
instrument setting out principles in the area of surveillance, the Declaration on Government Access 
to Personal Data held by Private Sector Entities. OECD also adopted the ‘OECD AI principles’ and 28 
OECD countrie OECD’s Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). 

67 

 
 
 
In the UN context, the EU submitted a contribution to the Global Digital Compact in an EU single 
adopted document in line with the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles and the 
human  rights  conventions,  covenants  and  treaties.  From  January  to  June  2023,  the  UN  GDC  has 
undergone a series of Member States and Stakeholders consultations in which the EU has actively 
participated.  The  consultations  (“deep  dives”) touched  upon  all  the  thematic  areas  of the Global 
Digital Compact. The UN GDC is to be delivered by September 2024. 

On Internet Governance, the EU is committed to promote its human-centric vision and interests in 
global multi-stakeholder institutions, including standardisation bodies. This encompasses concrete 
policies  related  to  internet  openness  and  security,  as  well  as  setting  the  global  internet  policy 
agenda.  For  example,  we  held  a  high-level  event  on  the  international  impact  of  EU  digital 
regulations in the 2022 UN’s Internet Governance Forum in Ethiopia. Moreover, the EU promoted 
the open Internet and its multi-stakeholder model through different actions, including by putting 
forward, together with like-minded partners, the Declaration for the Future of the Internet. 

4.6  Global Gateway 

The Global Gateway strategy includes digital connectivity as one of five priority sectors for action.  

To  foster  a  Team  Europe  approach,  the  Commission  and  EU  Member  States  joined  forces  to 
establish a coordination platform aimed at strengthening the EU global role in support of a human 
centric  model  of  digital  transformation:  the  D4D  Hub.  The  results  of  these  efforts  are  already 
visible on several flagship initiatives delivered on the ground.  

To structure and prioritise future investments under the Global Gateway strategy, the Commission 
is developing a Digital Connectivity Masterplan.  

At global level, the Commission is working to reinforce the European backbone infrastructure and 
connectivity  of  EU  territories  notably  with  likeminded  third  countries,  using  a  global  and  secure 
network  of  submarine  cables  to  support  the  EU’s  digital  resilience  and  reduce  dependencies  by 
means of promoting international route diversification. 

4.7  Digital Diplomacy 

As tech and digital policy becomes  an increasing  factor in the  common foreign &  security policy, 
the Foreign Affairs Council tasked the HRVP, the Commission & the EU Member States to ensure 
that digital diplomacy becomes a core component and an integral part of the EU external action 
and is closely coordinated with other EU external policies on cyber and countering hybrid threats, 
including foreign information manipulation and interference.  

The Foreign Affairs Council adopted Conclusions on Digital Diplomacy in July 2023 that focus on a 
number of priority actions that aim to leverage our role in global digital affairs and take EU digital 
diplomacy  to  the  next  level.  The  EU  will  therefore  develop  further  its  influence  in  global  digital 
governance. The EU’s objective is to safeguard and improve the current multistakeholder model of 
internet  governance  and  avoid  a  fragmented  Internet  -  with  a  human-centric model  on one  side 
and a competing model with a state-controlled architecture of the Internet on the other. They will 
build  a  more  convincing  digital  offer  towards  partner  countries  through  Global  Gateway  and  by 
supplying trusted digital connectivity. Thirdly, the EU will work to strengthen its role as a shaper of 
the global digital rulebook. This can happen via strengthening cooperation in relevant multilateral 
and multistakeholder fora, including the WTO, and specific bilateral partnerships and working with 
likeminded partners on the emerging technologies. It can also happen more generally through the 
EU’s measures- Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, Data Act or the Artificial Intelligence Act- 
that strengthen the Union’s position in global discussions on digital issues and can pave the way to 
converging rules globally. 

68 

 
 
 
 
5  Delivering the Digital Decade with EU investments  

5.1  EU funding programmes contributing to the Digital Decade 

While  the  Digital  Decade  Policy  Programme  has  only  entered  into  force  recently,  several  EU 
funding programmes  are expected to  support, to various extents, the Digital  Decade.  The  largest 
investments supporting are undertaken in the framework of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, 
with  an  estimated  contribution  of  EUR  117  billion172,  and  Cohesion  Policy  2021-2028,  with  an 
estimated contribution of EUR 26 billion to the Digital Decade targets. In addition, Horizon Europe 
(HE) provides a EUR 6 billion estimated support for some of the Digital Decade targets, in particular 
promoting  innovation  and  technological  advancement  across  various  sectors.  Furthermore,  the 
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF2) - Digital and the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), are estimated 
to contribute with EUR 1.3 billion and EUR 1.6 billion respectively.  
The  graph  and  table  below173  also  take  into  account  the  estimated  contributions  of  two 
programmes  from  the  previous  programming  period,  for  which  several  projects  are  for  the 
moment still ongoing: the European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 with an estimated 
contribution of EUR 10 billion and the H2020 programme, with an estimated contribution of EUR 3 
billion. 

Figure 7 - DD relevant budget (in billion EUR) by funding instrument 

 Source : JRC report (Papazoglou et al., 2023) 

172 This figure represents an estimate based on the mapping of the measures of the Recovery and Resilience 
Plans expected to contribute directly to the Digital Decade targets (JRC report, Papazoglou M., Torrecillas J., 
Cardona  M.,  Calza  E.,  Vázquez-Prada  Baillet  M.,  Righi  R.,  Mapping  EU  level  funding  instruments  to  Digital 
Decade  targets.  Application  to  main  digital  instruments  in  2014-2027,  López  Cobo,  M.  and  De  Prato,  G. 
editors,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg,  2023,  doi:10.2760/986930,  JRC134647, 
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134647).  Therefore,  this  figure  is  based  on,  but 
not identical to the amount that Member States have dedicated to the digital transformation in accordance 
with Annex VII of the Recovery and Resilience Regulation (reported in the next chapter). 
173 As above.  

69 

 
 
 
 
Figure 8 - DD relevant budget (percentage %) by cardinal point 

Source: JRC calculations 

As  shown  in  figure  8,  the  allocation  to  each  cardinal  point  varies  in  percentage.  The  digital 
transformation of businesses and the digitalisation of public services are estimated to receive the 
highest  amounts  of  this  funding,  with  35%  and  30%  of  the  budget  respectively.  Secure  and 
sustainable  digital  infrastructures  follow  with  18%  of  the  budget,  while  digital  skills  account  for 
16%.  

Going  into  more  detail,  table  1  presents  the  estimated  split  of  this  funding  per  Digital  Decade 
target. It shows that the Digital Public Services target potentially receives the highest allocation of 
funding among all Digital Decade targets, with a budget of EUR 34 billion. Gigabit network coverage 
also  benefits  from  an  important  allocation  of  EUR  17  billion,  out  of  the  total  budget  of  EUR  30 
billion dedicated to digital infrastructure. Regarding the Digital transformation of businesses, EUR 
18  billion  are  dedicated  to  the  digital  late  adopters’  target.  Furthermore,  EUR  17  billion  is 
estimated to be allocated to the unicorns’ target. Finally, investments in digital skills development 
are also important, estimated at EUR 16 billion for basic skills and EUR 11 billion for ICT specialists. 

70 

 
 
 
 
Table 1 - Summary table of investment funds by DD target (in EUR million) 

Funding instrument 

TOTAL DD-relevant budget 

165 011.04 

116 797.29 

1 323.20 

1 585.55 

3 034.38 

6 146.46 

26 112.63 

10 011.54 

RRF 

CEF2 Digital 

DEP 

H2020 

HE 

CP 

ESIF 

Basic digital skills 

ICT Specialists 

15 931.67 

13 797.82 

11 107.81 

9 171.58 

Gigabit network coverage 

17 114.97 

12 963.94 

5G coverage 

Semiconductors 

Edge 

Quantum computing 

5 998.16 

3 470.86 

3 919.91 

2 950.00 

654.88 

2 355.56 

0.00 

846.08 

Cloud computing services 

7 685.03 

5 077.61 

Big data 

Artificial intelligence 

Digital late adopters 

6 921.32 

3 866.61 

8 451.99 

4 376.00 

17 866.22 

11 599.84 

Innovative businesses/ scale-ups 

17 029.58 

11 603.65 

Digital public services 

33 534.04 

23 446.73 

Electronic health records 

15 495.50 

13 110.35 

eID 

944.40 

516.21 

Source: JRC report (Papazoglou et al., 2023). 

0.00  

0.00  

160.16 

969.70 

0.00 

43.16 

90.00 

60.18 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

40.07 

224.65 

0.80 

0.80 

94.09 

72.55 

0.00 

44.75 

223.05 

864.17 

1 090.76 

576.12 

839.86 

0.11 

2 164.23 

1 825.73 

780.16 

396.13 

114.83 

265.68 

10.51 

172.15 

688.41 

134.41 

46.51 

331.98 

176.23 

517.29 

627.14 

0.00 

0.00 

0.00 

118.15 

166.78 

434.73 

1 549.98 

32.85 

179.12 

1 015.15 

1 549.98 

243.80 

346.03 

1 658.58 

1 549.98 

197.64  

250.29  

341.39 

4 649.94 

59.52 

290.45 

183.37 

4 649.94 

98.83 

98.83 

98.83 

277.60 

277.60 

277.60 

827.12 

242.65 

180.72 

90.68 

6.33 

7 214.61 

2 594.97 

87.13 

78.27 

28.28  

185.86 

1 228.84 

0.00 

9.46 

0.00 

855.04 

340.45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Notes: 

- CP's data extraction date: 27 March 2023. 

- DEP budget includes Main WP 21-22, Cybersecurity WP 21-22, EDIHs WP 21-23. 

- HE budget includes WP21-22, WP23-24, Joint Undertakings, and European Innovation Council. It does not include European Research Council. 

- RRF's data extraction date: 1 September 2023. 

- H2020's data update: 2 June 2023.- Funds not included in the table: Joint Undertakings (work in progress), EIC (work in progress), ERC (to be mapped for a future 
update). 

72 

 
 
Table 1 depicts the funding distribution across various instruments and Digital Decade targets. The 
Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  (RRF)  emerges  as  the  primary  contributor to  the  majority  of the 
Digital Decades targets, expected to provide substantial support. For example, it accounts for 87% 
of  the  allocation  for  Basic  Digital  Skills,  83%  of  the  allocation  or  ICT  Specialists,  and  70%  of  the 
allocation for Digital Public Services. 

Figure 9 - DD relevant budget by DD target 

(a)  In billion € 

(b)  In percentage 

Source : JRC report (Papazoglou et al., 2023) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
As  figure  9  (b)  shows,  other  programmes  besides  the  RRF  have  a  high  relevance  for  more 
innovative, cutting-edge targets. For example, by contributing a substantial share (16%) to the 5G 
target,  Connecting  Europe  Facility  2  (CEF2)  plays  a  significant  role  in  advancing  Europe's  digital 
infrastructure.  The  Digital  Europe  Programme  (DEP)  makes  important  contributions  to  the  edge 
computing target (21% of the total budget). Horizon 2020 (H2020) and Horizon Europe (HE) make 
significant  contributions  to  research  and  innovation-focused  Digital  Decade  targets,  such  as  the 
quantum target (49%).  

However,  figure  9  (a)  shows  that  the  funding  dedicated  to  more  innovative,  cutting-edge 
technologies,  such  as  5G,  AI,  semi-conductors,  edge,  quantum,  and  big  data  is  rather  modest  in 
absolute  terms,  in  particular  when  compared  to  the  other  headings,  and  when  put  in  the 
perspective  of  the  ambition  of  the  respective  2030  targets.  Joint  investment  in  the  form  of 
multi-country projects for these targets is therefore critical. 

5.2  Focus: the RRF contribution to the Digital Decade 

As illustrated above, the RRF is the largest contributor to the Digital Decade targets. In accordance 
with the legal framework, each Member State was required to dedicate at least 20% of its recovery 
and  resilience  plan’s  total  allocation  to  measures  contributing  to  the  digital  transition  or  to 
addressing the challenges resulting from it. Member States have so far committed about EUR 130 
billion for digital expenditure, amounting to 26% of the RRF as a whole, well over the 20% target 
established by the RRF Regulation, with some Member States such as Germany having dedicated 
over 50% of their plans to digital transformation.  

The figure below represents the split of the digital budgets of the RRF plans in accordance with the 
digital tagging methodology established in Annex VII of the RRF Regulation. This categorisation of 
measures allowed for a more refined analysis of the contribution of the RRF to the Digital Decade 
targets, as compared to that undertaken for the other EU instruments. 

Figure 10  - Split of the RRF digital budget per priority area, in accordance  with  Annex  VII of the 
RRF Regulation  

Figure  11  depicts  the  absolute  figures  (EUR  million)  of  the  Digital  Decade  relevant  RRF  budget 
allocation to each Member State. It is evident that certain Member States receiving a larger share 
of  the  overall  RRF  funding  will  also  make  the  highest  contributions  to  digital  (e.g.,  Italy  EUR  42 
billion, Spain EUR 19 billion, and France EUR 8 billion). However, as noted before, certain Member 

74 

 
 
 
 
 
 
States chose to dedicate important parts of their RRPs to digital, beyond the legal requirement, e.g. 
Germany (51%), Hungary, Lithuania and Ireland each above 30%.  

Figure 11 - 2DD relevant RRF budget (in million €) by cardinal point 

Source : JRC report (Papazoglou et al., 2023) 

Comparing  these  shares  of  funding  with  the  GDP  (PPP)  of  each  MS,  it  further  underlines  the 
importance of the  Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in supporting  digital transformation and 
the achievement of the Digital Decade targets across the EU, particularly in countries with smaller 
economies.  Notably,  Greece  (4.09%),  Italy  (3.48%)  and  Spain  (2.22%)  will  receive  a  significant 
proportion  of  their  GDP  (PPP)  towards  investments  relevant  for  the  Digital  Decade  targets, 
indicating a strong support of the RRF to achieving the Digital Decade targets.  

Figure 12 -3 DD relevant RRF budget (as share of GDP) by cardinal point 

Source : JRC report (Papazoglou et al., 2023) 

75 

 
 
 
 
 
 
5.3 

Investments needed to achieve Digital Decade targets  

Increasing public and private investment in digital technologies, including innovative ICTs, will be 
an important part of the solution for the EU to reach targets. The Recovery and Resilience Facility 
and  the  Digital  Europe  Programme  provide  an  important  step-up  by  providing  funding  for 
investments in digital technologies. Targeted research and innovation efforts such as those under 
Horizon  Europe  and  the  European  Defence  Fund  are  also  key  in  addressing  the  EU’s  R&I  gap  in 
comparison with its global competitors and thereby reducing strategic dependencies. However, the 
assessment of progress under the Digital Decade shows that there are still serious investment gaps 
that will have to be addressed. 

A  forthcoming  international  benchmarking  of  private  investments  in  Digital  Decade  thematic 
areas174  reports  that  the  EU  presents  lower  levels  of  investments  than  the  US  and  China  in 
various digital sectors, particularly in fixed broadband coverage, 5G, and semiconductors. The EU 
faces  investment  shortages  in  the  adoption  of  cloud  computing,  big  data,  and  AI,  with  Chinese 
firms  showing  substantial  investments  and  revenues  in  these  areas.  These  results  suggest  that 
increased  investments  and  support  to  enhance  the  EU's  digital  competitiveness  are  needed  in 
order to achieve the objectives of the Digital Decade Policy Programme. 

The number of ICT specialists employed in the EU has been growing in the last few years and so has 
the number of companies operating in the ICT sector. In 2022, 62.8% of companies looking for ICT 
specialists reported difficulties in recruiting them175, with SMEs struggling more often in filling ICT 
vacancies.  New  technologies  require  an  increasingly  experienced  workforce  in  the  ICT  sector. 
Without  a  firm  command  of  advanced  digital  skills,  there  is  no  way  to  propel  innovation  and 
remain  competitive176.  For  this  reason,  ICT  specialists  should  be  considered  as  an  essential 
element  of  the  supply  chain  underlying  not  only  the  digital  ecosystem  but  the  EU  evermore 
digitalised economy as a whole. The shortage of ICT specialists will require massive investment by 
the  public  and  private  sectors  that  should  occur  in  parallel  to  the  necessary  reforms  in  Member 
States to promote specialisation and employment in this field. while the number of ICT specialists 
employed  in  the  EU  has  been  growing  in  the  last  few  years,  so  has  the  number  of  companies 
operating in the ICT sector.  

By 2030 all European households should be served by a Gigabit network, and all populated areas 
covered by next generation wireless high-speed networks offering performance at least equivalent 
to that of 5G. Achieving these goal will require substantial investments from the private sector, as 
well as support from public funding including from EU programmes such as CEF Digital and the RRF. 
The  study,  based  on  the  WIK-Consult’s  cost  and  viability  model,  estimates  that  around  EUR  114 
billion in investment will be required to achieve the fixed Gigabit coverage goal using Fibre-to-the-
Premise (FTTP).  EUR  33.5 billion  is estimated to be  needed  for the provision of “full 5G service” 
(with additional base stations and small cells, mostly for the mid or high 5G bands). The resulting 
total  investment  needs  to  reach  the  current  Digital  Decade  targets  is  about  EUR  148  billion  in 
investment,  with  an  addition  of  between  EUR  26  billion  and  EUR  79  billion  depending  on  the 
deployment mode, for the main transport paths. This makes the overall investment gap reach at 
least EUR 174 billion, including the public funds that may be required, but more likely beyond EUR 
200 billion depending on the options considered. It is important to note that, as 2030 approaches, 

174 Torrecillas, J., Papazoglou, M., Calza, E., Cardona, M., Vázquez Prada-Baillet, M International 
benchmarking of private investments in Digital Decade thematic areas, López Cobo, M. and De Prato, G. 
editors, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2023, doi:10.2760/359158, JRC134743 
(https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134743). 
175 ICT specialists - statistics on hard-to-fill vacancies in enterprises - Statistics Explained (europa.eu) 
176 OECD (2019): OECD Economic Outlook, Digitalisation, and productivity: A story of complementarities, 
OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2019 Issue 1 | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org). 

76 

 
 
 
the  more  intense,  industrial  use  of  connectivity  for  internet  4.0  scenarios,  and  the  increasing 
security  requirements,  are  likely  to  push  the  investment  needs  much  higher177.  Strengthening 
Europe’s  global  partnerships  and  boosting  strategic  investment  in  international  connectivity 
networks is among the objectives of the Digital Decade. Reinforcing connections between Europe 
and  its  global  partners  will  promote  European  norms  and  standards  and  help  shape  global 
solutions.  Across  the  world,  the  Global  Gateway  aims  to  mobilise  up  to  EUR  300  billion  in 
investments  between  2021  and  2027 with  a mix of grants,  concessional  loans and  guarantees  to 
de-risk private sector investments. 

Semiconductors are at the centre of strong geostrategic interests, and of the global technological 
race.  For  this  reason,  the  Commission  proposed  the  European  Chips  Act,  which  strengthens 
European  competitiveness  and  resilience 
in  this  strategic  sector.  To  respond  to  critical 
dependencies,  the  European  Chips  Act  will  strengthen  manufacturing  activities  in  the  Union, 
stimulate the European design ecosystem, and support scale-up and innovation across the whole 
value  chain.  Through  the  European  Chips  Act,  the  European  Union  aims  to  reach  its  target  to 
double  its  current  global  market  share  to  20%  in  2030.  The  Chips  for  Europe  Initiative  will 
combine investments from the Union, Member States and the private sector, through a strategic 
reorientation  of  the  Key  Digital  Technologies  Joint  Undertaking  (renamed 
‘Chips  Joint 
Undertaking’). The Initiative will be supported by EUR 6.2 billion of public funds, of which EUR 3.3 
billion from the EU budget agreed for the period until 2027. This support will come in addition to 
EUR 2.6 billion public funding already foreseen for semiconductor technologies. The EUR 6.2 billion 
will support activities, such as the development of a design platform and setting up of pilot lines to 
accelerate 
innovation  and  production.  The  Initiative  will  also  help  the  establishment  of 
competence  centres,  located  across  Europe,  which will  provide  access  to  technical  expertise  and 
experimentation,  helping  companies,  SMEs  in  particular,  to  improve  design  capabilities  and 
developing skills. Together with design centres of excellence, they will become poles of attraction 
for innovation and for new talent. Moreover, to support start-ups and SMEs, access to finance will 
be  ensured  through  a  Chips  Fund  and  a  dedicated  semiconductor  equity  investment  facility 
established under InvestEU. In addition to the Chips for Europe Initiative, the second pillar of the 
European  Chips  Act  will  incentivise  public  and  private  investments  in  manufacturing  facilities  for 
chipmakers and their suppliers. This will contribute to the overall public investments in the sector 
estimated at EUR 43 billion. Since the proposal for a European Chips Act, together with the second 
Important Project of Common European Interest in microelectronics currently under assessment, 
which involves 20 Member States and dozens of participants, investment plans towards industrial 
deployment have reached EUR 90 - 100 billion. The adoption of the European Chips Act will allow a 
faster realisation of those projects and further progress in attracting investment to secure Europe’s 
supply chain in semiconductors. 
The  European  Alliance  for  Industrial  Data,  Edge,  and  Cloud178  has  projected  the  required 
investment  until  2025  to  reach  EUR  6.4  billion,  which  breaks  down  to  EUR  2.9  billion  for  cloud 
infrastructures, EUR 2.1 billion for near edge installations, and EUR 1.4 billion for far edge devices. 
For a thorough understanding of the costs associated with the deployment of Edge nodes by 2030, 
it  is  also  required  to  incorporate  the  costs  connected  with  on-premises  Edge  computing 
installations,  expenses  related  to  management  software  platforms  and  climate  neutrality  and 
sustainability features as well as the extrapolation of overall expenditures to 2030.  

177 Investment and funding needs for the Digital Decade connectivity targets | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
(europa.eu) 
178 European industrial technology roadmap for the next generation cloud-edge offering (May 2021), 
https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/repository/document/2021-
18/European_CloudEdge_Technology_Investment_Roadmap_for_publication_pMdz85DSw6nqPppq8hE9S9R
bB8_76223.pdf 

77 

 
 
 
Quantum  is one  of the  most  promising  industries  of  the  future,  with  a  huge  strategic value.  The 
quantum  technology  industry  has  a  projected  market  size  of  USD  106  billion  in  2040  and  a 
potential  economic  value  from  quantum  computing  only  of  between  USD  620  billion  and  USD 
1,270 billion across four industries by 2035: chemicals, life sciences, finance and automotive179. The 
EU  has  already  secured  the  budget  for  the  EU  to  have  its  first  computer  with  quantum 
acceleration  by  2024,  together  with  the  EUR  0.6  billion  for  a  number  of  R&D  calls180.  The  EU  is 
currently standing at the leading edge of the quantum industry, yet its position is under threat. In 
the quantum technology, the US leads in venture capital investments, followed by the UK and the 
EU  in  third  place.  Asian  countries  show  very  low  venture  capital  funding,  which  may  indicate  an 
underestimate  due  to  Crunchbase’s  delay 
in  very  new 
technologies.181  The  EU’s  quantum  strengths  lie  in  a vibrant  ecosystem of  research  organisations 
and  start-ups  that  are  likely  to  become  EU’s  future  quantum  technology  giants.  However,  the 
success of the EU start-ups and scale-ups developing these assets relies heavily upon their access 
to capital. Adequate financial resources will therefore be needed for the EU to surpass competitors 
and become the leader in quantum technologies.  
Europe wide benchmarking182 also points to serious investment gaps in the adoption of innovative 
digital solutions across all public services (e.g., AI, big data, robotics, etc). While the roll-out of basic 
digital  public  services  is  progressing  steadily  (e.g.,  access  to  online  forms,  online  appointment 
booking, etc.), the availability of more advanced public services that make use of innovative digital 
technologies still requires significant procurement investments. Overcoming this gap in innovation 
procurement  of  ICT-based  solutions  requires  dedicating  an  additional  EUR  177  billion  of  public 
procurement budgets across the EU to innovative digital solutions183. 

in  capturing  Asian  firms  active 

179 Quantum technology encompasses the three subfields of computing, communication and sensing. 
180 This includes the following calls:  

Integration of quantum computing and classical computing (HPC, Cloud) - EUR 40 million 
Error correction and fault tolerant quantum computing & simulation - EUR 25 million 

- 
- 
-  Quantum computing and simulation applications addressing practical problems - EUR 15 million 
- 
Benchmarking, certification, and standardisation on quantum technologies - EUR 10 million 
-  Development quantum computing technology-agnostic software stack - EUR 25 million 
- 

Projects for developing quantum computing hardware - EUR 150 million (FPAs x 4 and launch calls 
for alternative quantum computing and simulation). 

181  Torrecillas,  J.,  Papazoglou,  M.,  Calza,  E.,  Cardona,  M.,  Vázquez  Prada-Baillet,  M  International 
benchmarking  of  private  investments  in  Digital  Decade  thematic  areas,  López  Cobo,  M.  and  De  Prato,  G. 
editors,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg,  2023,  doi:10.2760/359158,  JRC134743 
(https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134743) 
182  Benchmarking  of  innovation  procurement  investments  and  policy  frameworks  across  Europe  |  Shaping 
Europe’s digital future (europa.eu) 
183  Benchmarking  of  innovation  procurement  investments  and  policy  frameworks  across  Europe  |  Shaping 
Europe’s digital future (europa.eu). The benchmarking went through all published public procurements in the 
EU and measured how much public procurement budget is spent in each country on buying innovative digital 
solutions  across  all  the  key  sectors  in  which  the  public  sector  is  active  (e.g.,  public  administration,  health, 
transport,  education,  culture,  energy,  environment,  security,  defence,  construction,  water).  Innovative 
solution  and  ICT  are  based  on  the  OECD  definition  and  the  corresponding  definitions  in  the  EU  public 
procurement  directives.  Innovative  solutions  include  both  product  innovation  (i.e.  introduction  of  a  new 
good/service,  also  including  works  such  as  building  and  construction  works),  process  innovation  (i.e. 
implementation of new or significantly improved production or delivery method), marketing innovation (i.e. 
a new method to introduce an innovation into the market) and organisational innovation (i.e. an innovation 
in workplace organisation, business practices or external relations) ICT covers all types of ICT sectors (both in 
the  areas  of  telecoms,  IT  hardware  and  software  and  digital  content)  for  all  types  of  digital  solutions 
(including all the key innovative ICT technologies that the Digital Decade seeks to deploy such as AI, robotics, 
smart cloud, HPC, blockchain, virtual worlds). 

78 

 
 
 
6  Delivering the Digital Decade through policies 

The  table  below  provides an  overview  of  actions  taken  since  2020  to  implement  the  EU’s  digital 
strategy. It summarises key achievements contributing to the three overarching areas covered by 
the  Digital  Decade  targets  and  objectives:  (i)  fostering  a  sovereign  and  competitive  Europe,  (ii) 
empowering people and society, and (iii) contributing to the green transition.  The  fourth  column 
further  specifies  the  contribution  of  a  given  action  to  the  Digital Decade,  distinguishing  between 
contributions to  general objectives, cardinal points  and targets, as well as Multi-Country  Projects 
(MCPs). 

DDPP relevance 

General objective /Cardinal 
points -target - MCPs 

•  Objective: Sovereignty, 

resilience 

• 

Infrastructure, Target on 
Semi-processors 

•  Target on Digitalisation of 
business and public 
services 

•  MCPs 

Action item 

Short description & next steps 

Fostering a sovereign and competitive Europe  

Cutting-edge 
digital capacities 

Building and 
deploying cutting-
-edge joint digital 
capacities in the 
following areas: 

•  AI 

The following rows refer to the categories 
listed in the 2020 Communication.  

In addition to the areas where cutting-
-edge digital capacities are being built and 
deployed. The work on semiconductors is 
ongoing: 

• 

• 

In February 2022, the European Chips 
Act proposal was adopted; a political 
agreement was reached on 18 April 
2023, adoption of the final text is 
expected to take place in Q3 2023. 

In January 2023, Testing and 
Experimentation Facilities (TEF) in AI 
and robotics were launched for the 
healthcare, agri-food, smart cities, and 
communities and manufacturing 
sectors (total cost of EUR 220 million). 

•  Networks of excellence centres and 
European Digital Innovation Hubs 
(DIHs) in AI and robotics are being 
created. 

•  An AI-on-demand platform is 

supported by several projects (under 
Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and the 
Digital Europe Programme) that create 
a single access point to trustworthy AI 
resources, supporting the 
development and deployment of AI. 

•  Cyber 

•  European network of Security 

•  Objective: Cyber, 

Operations Centres (SOCs) is being set 
up both via a call for expression of 
interest for Member States to join 
cross border SOCs and calls for grants 

79 

resilience 

 
 
 
 
•  Super- and 
quantum 
computing 

•  Quantum 

communicatio
n 

to support the capacity building of 
SOCs, as well as via the upcoming 
Cyber Solidarity Act. 

•  Two EuroHPC supercomputers were 

• 

inaugurated in 2022 and are in the top 
five supercomputers worldwide. In 
June 2023, the EuroHPC JU signed 
hosting agreements for another six 
quantum computers. 

•  Significant progress in quantum 
technologies flagship projects. A 
report summarising the main project 
results from the ramp-up phase of the 
Quantum Flagship (2018-2021) is 
available here.  

•  Deployment of the national EUROQCI 
networks started (secure quantum 
communication infrastructure 
spanning the whole EU, including its 
overseas territories). 26 projects were 
selected by the end of 2022 to foster 
the growth of a European quantum 
communication ecosystem and to 
develop the national quantum 
communication networks. 

Infrastructure/Target on 
quantum 

•  MCP 

• 

Infrastructure/Target on 
quantum 

•  MCPs 

•  Blockchain 

•  The European Blockchain Service 

•  Digitalisation of public 

Infrastructure (EBSI) is piloting several 
use cases and mobilises an increasing 
number of actors. 

services 

•  MCPs/EDICs 

European 
Strategies on 
Quantum and 
blockchain (Q2 
2020) 

Revised EuroHPC 
Regulation on 
supercomputing 

Connectivity 

Accelerating 
investments in 
Europe’s Gigabit 
connectivity, 
through: 

•  Digital Europe funded projects were 

launched in May 2023. 

European Blockchain Strategy published in 
January 2021 (potentially to be updated in 
2023/24). 

The revised EuroHPC Regulation was 
adopted in July 2021. 

In February 2023, the Commission 
presented a set of actions aimed at making 
Gigabit connectivity available to all citizens 
and businesses across the EU by 2030, 
including: 

•  A proposal for a Gigabit Infrastructure 

Act (negotiations ongoing), 

80 

•  Digitalisation of public 

services 

• 

Infrastructure/Target on 
quantum 

•  MCPs/EDICs 

• 

Infrastructure 

• 

Infrastructure, target 
Connectivity  

 
 
 
 
 
 
•  A draft Gigabit Recommendation, 
which seeks to provide guidance to 
National Regulatory Authorities, 

•  An exploratory consultation on the 

future of the connectivity sector and 
its infrastructure (until May 2023). 

Proposal for a Gigabit Infrastructure Act 
adopted in February 2023 (see above), 
reducing cost of deploying gigabit 
electronic communications networks and 
repealing the Broadband Cost Reduction 
Directive. 

•  Revision of the 
Broadband 
Cost Reduction 
Directive 

• 

Infrastructure, target 
Connectivity 

Infrastructure, target 
Connectivity 

•  Updated 

•  Clear 5G and 6G deployment targets 

• 

Action Plan on 
5G and 6G 

were defined for 2030 and the 
trajectory to ‘5G everywhere’ is agreed 
with the Council and Parliament.  

•  Relevant policy aspects are addressed 
in the accompanying staff working 
document. Deployment frameworks 
are proposed in the (proposed) Gigabit 
Infrastructure Act (see above). 
Spectrum actions are being developed 
in the context of the Radio Spectrum 
Policy Programme. 

• 

Smart Networks and Services Joint 
Undertaking (SNS JU) launched in 
November 2021 to support the 
development of Europe’s technological 
capacities in 6G. 

•  New Radio 

Spectrum 
Policy 
Programme 
(2021) 

•  Roll-out of 5G 
corridors for 
connected and 
automated 
mobility, 
including 
railway 
corridors 
(2021-2030) 
(2021-2023) 

•  Cybersecurity  

A European 
cybersecurity 
strategy, including 

The Radio Spectrum Policy Programme 
ongoing (is currently being drafted. 

• 

Infrastructure, target 
Connectivity 

• 

Infrastructure, target 
Connectivity 

Corresponding to one of the areas of 
activity for the multi-country projects, 
identified in the Digital Decade Policy 
Programme and facilitated by the newly 
established Smart Networks and Services 
Joint Undertaking. Initial funding under the 
first CEF Digital call of EUR 42 million, with 
the possibility of additional funding of 
around EUR 200 million under calls 2 and 3.  

• 

In December 2020, the European 
Commission and the High 
Representative of the Union for 

•  Objective: resilience, 

cyber 

81 

 
 
the establishment 
of a joint 
Cybersecurity Unit  

A Review of the 
Security of 
Network and 
Information 
Systems (NIS) 
Directive and 
giving a push to 
the single market 
for cybersecurity 

 Online Platforms  

Initiative to 
improve labour 
conditions of 
platform workers 
(2021) 

Explore ex ante 
rules to ensure 
that markets 
characterised by 
large platforms 
with significant 
network effects 
acting as 
gatekeepers, 
remain fair and 
contestable for 
innovators, 
businesses, and 
new market 
entrants (Q4 2020) 

New and revised 
rules to deepen 
the Internal 
Market for Digital 

Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 
presented a new EU Cybersecurity 
Strategy (Joint Communication: The 
EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy for the 
Digital Decade), followed by a 
Commission recommendation on 
building the Joint Cyber Unit dated 
June 2021. 

• 

In January 2023, the new NIS2 
Directive on measures for a high 
common level of cybersecurity across 
the Union entered into force. 

Package presented in December 2021, 
including: 

•  Human centred digital 

transformation 

•  Commission Communication on better 
working conditions for a stronger social 
Europe: harnessing the full benefits of 
digitalisation; for the future of work, 

•  Proposed Directive on improving 

working conditions in platform work; 

•  Draft Guidelines clarifying the 

application of EU competition law to 
collective agreements of solo self-
employed- people seeking to improve 
their working conditions, including 
those working through digital labour 
platforms. 

The Digital Markets Act entered into force 
on 1 November 2022. 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure, 
Competitiveness and 
sustainability  

•  Targets: Digitalisation of 
business and public 
services 

Digital Services Act entered into force on 
16 November 2022. 

•  Objective: human centred 
digital transformation 

•  Declaration on digital 
rights and principles 

82 

 
 
 
Services, by 
increasing and 
harmonising the 
responsibilities of 
online platforms 
and information 
service providers 
and reinforce the 
oversight over 
platforms’ content 
policies in the EU. 
(Q4 2020, as part 
of the Digital 
Services Act 
package) 

Public sector  

A reinforced EU 
governments 
interoperability 
strategy to ensure 
coordination and 
common standards 
for secure and 
borderless public 
sector data flows 
and services 
(2021) 

Data 

A European Data 
Strategy to make 
Europe a global 
leader in the 
data-agile 
economy (February 
2020) 

Announcing a 
legislative 
framework for 
data governance 
(Q4 2020) 

In line with the Commission work 
programme 2022, updated strategy 
package adopted in November 2022, 
including the Interoperable Europe Act 
proposal and an accompanying 
Communication. 

The proposed Act (which is currently under 
negotiation) provides for a new monitoring 
mechanism according to which the 
Commission shall monitor the progress of 
the development of cross border 
interoperable public services delivered or 
managed electronically and report 
regularly on the progress made. The 
Commission is working with the JRC to 
support the transition.  

Commission Communication on a 
European strategy for data dated February 
2020. 

The Data Governance Act entered into 
force in June 2022. 

83 

•  Objective on 

interoperability 

•  Digitalisation of public 
services, target on key 
public services 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure, 
competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Targets: Digitalisation of 
businesses and public 
services 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure,competitive
ness and sustainability of 
EU’s industry 

•  Targets: Digitalisation of 
businesses and public 
services 

 
 
 
Announcing a 
possible Data Act 
(2021) 

Data Act proposed in February 2022 
(agreement found between co-legislators 
in June 2023). 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure, 
competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Targets: Digitalisation of 
businesses and public 
services 

Competition law 

Ongoing 
evaluation and 
review of the 
fitness of EU 
competition rules 
for the digital age 
(2020-2023) 

Launch of a sector 
inquiry (2020). 

Single Market 

Propose an 
Industrial Strategy 
Package putting 
forward a range of 
actions to facilitate 
the transformation 
towards clean, 
circular, digital and 
globally 
competitive EU 
industries, 
including SMEs and 
the reinforcement 
of single market 
rules 

State aid - measures include the following: 

•  Objective: efficient data 

•  General Block Exemption Regulation 

amended in March 2023 to support 
the twin transition to a green and 
digital economy. 

•  Revised Broadband Guidelines 

adopted in December 2022 setting out 
rules under which the Commission will 
assess state aid measures notified by 
Member States to support the 
deployment and take-up of broadband 
networks in the EU. 

•  Evaluation of the Technology Transfer 
block exemption regulation ongoing. 

Consumer IoT sector inquiry launched in 
July 2020. Final report published in 
January 2022, together with an 
accompanying staff working document. 

New European Industrial Strategy Package 
adopted in March 2020, including: 

•  a new Industrial Strategy for Europe, 

•  SME strategy for a sustainable and 
digital Europe (referring also to the 
network of European Digital 
Innovation Hubs, set up to support 
companies in their digital 
transformation, specifically in the areas 
of AI, blockchain, quantum, HPC or 
cybersecurity), 

•  an accompanying staff working 

document identifying and addressing 
barriers to the Single Market, and  

•  a long-term action plan for better 

84 

infrastructure, 
Competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure, 
Competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Targets: Digitalisation of 
business and public 
services 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure, 
Competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Sustainable ecosystem of 
digital infrastructures, 
notably energy and 
resource efficient,  

•  Minimising their negative 
environmental impact, 
sustainable circular and 
climate neutral 

 
 
 
implementation and enforcement of 
single market rules. 

New Digital Finance Package, including 
Digital Finance and Retail Payments 
Strategies and legislative proposals on 
crypto assets and digital resilience, 
proposals adopted in September 2020. 

•  Objective: efficient data 

infrastructure, 
Competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Sustainable ecosystem of 
digital infrastructures 

•  Digitalisation of public 

services, eID 

•  Commission proposal for a European 
Digital Identity Framework presented 
in June 2021; negotiations at the final 
stages "political agreement was 
reached between the co-legislators in 
June 2023  

•  A first draft Architecture and 
Reference Framework for the 
European Digital Identity wallet 
published in February 2023 

Digital Finance  

Create a 
framework to 
enable convenient, 
competitive and 
secure Digital 
Finance (Q3 2020), 
including: 

• 

• 

Legislative 
proposals on 
crypto assets 

Legislative 
proposals on 
digital 
operational 
and cyber 
resilience in 
the financial 
sector 

•  Strategy 

towards an 
integrated EU 
payments 
market that 
supports pan-
European 
digital 
payment 
services and 
solutions 

Digital Identity 

Revision of eIDAS 
Regulation to 
improve its 
effectiveness, 
extend its benefits 
to the private 
sector and 
promote trusted 
digital identities for 
all Europeans (Q4 
2020) 

Media & Audiovisual  

Media and 
Audiovisual Action 
Plan to support 

Presented in December 2020. 

•  Online participation in 

European Media Freedom Act proposed 

85 

democratic life for all, fair 
and non-discriminatory 

 
 
 
16 September 2022 

conditions 

•  Recommendation on a European 
electronic health record exchange 
format to facilitate the cross border 
interoperability of electronic health 
records (EHRs) in the EU presented in 
February 2019.  

•  Exchange format structure 

specifications for two mainstream 
standards for the three Electronic 
Health Record EHR data categories 
delivered at the end of 2022.  

•  eHealth Network guidelines for 

laboratory results and reports were 
published. 

• 

Launched in May 2022, with a 
proposed regulation to set up the 
European Health Data Space in order 
to unleash the full potential of health 
data (proposal currently under 
discussion among the co-legislators). 

•  Human centred digital 

transformation 

•  Digitalisation of public 

services, e-health target 

•  Human centred digital 

transformation 

•  Digitalisation of public 

services, e-health target 

digital 
transformation 
and 
competitiveness of 
the audiovisual and 
media sector, to 
stimulate access to 
quality content and 
media pluralism 
(Q4 2020) 

Health 

Promotion of 
electronic health 
records based on a 
common European 
exchange format 
to give European 
citizens secure 
access to and 
exchange of health 
data across the EU  

European health 
data space to 
improve safe and 
secure accessibility 
of health data 
allowing for 
targeted and faster 
research, diagnosis 
and treatment  
(from 2022). 

The international dimension - Europe as a global player 

A Global Digital 
Cooperation 
Strategy (2021) 

A Digital for 
Development Hub 
that will build and 
consolidate a 
whole-of-EU 
approach 
promoting EU 

TTC with USA and India, Digital 
partnerships with Japan, Korea and 
Singapore launched. Digital transformation 
is one of the main pillars in the Global 
Gateway. 

D4D Hub launched in December 2020. It 
serves as a strategic multi-stakeholder 
platform that fosters digital cooperation 
between the Team Europe and its global 
partners. 

86 

 
 
 
 
 
•  Sovereignty, resilience  

•  Objective: Human centred 
digital transformation 

•  Competitiveness and 
sustainability of EU’s 
industry 

•  Cardinal point on skills, 
target basic skills 

•  Supporting 

international 
partnerships  

values and 
mobilising EU 
member states and 
EU industry, Civil 
Society 
Organisations 
(CSOs), financial 
institutions, 
expertise and 
technologies in 
digitisation 

A strategy for 
standardisation, 
which will allow for 
the deployment of 
interoperable 
technologies 
respecting 
Europe’s rules, and 
promote Europe’s 
approach and 
interests on the 
global stage (Q3 
2020) 

Mapping of 
opportunities and 
action plan to 
promote the 
European 
approach in 
bilateral relations 
and multilateral 
fora (Q2 2020) 

Commission presented a new 
Standardisation Strategy in February 2022 
aimed at strengthening the EU’s global 
competitiveness, enabling a resilient, green 
and digital economy, and enshrining 
democratic values in technology 
applications.  

DG CNECT supports the implementation of 
the strategy across all its five pillars (e.g. 
identification of ICT standardisation needs 
with the ICT Standardisation Rolling Plan; 
support in modernising ETSI’s governance; 
integration of standardisation activities in 
Digital partnerships and participation of EU 
experts in international ICT standardisation 
via StandICT.eu; promotion of EU’s 
standards and standardisation system 
globally through Horizon Europe; support 
to research, development and innovation 
through Horizon Europe, DEPI, CEF; 
strengthening of skills through StandICT.eu 
EUOS academy).  

•  Digital Partnerships with three key 

Indo-Pacific countries launched: Japan 
(May 2022), Republic of Korea 
(November 2022) and Singapore 
(February 2023).  

•  EU-India Trade and Technology Council 

launched in February 2023  

•  Fourth (May 2023) and fifth EU-US 

Trade and Technology Council focusing 
on a selected number of priority areas. 

•  Other fora include the OECD ministerial 
meeting held in December 2022, the G7 
Digital Ministers’ meeting held in Japan 
in April 2023, and the G20 Digital 
Economy Ministerial meeting to be held 
in India in August 2023. 

87 

 
 
 
Empowering people and society  

Artificial Intelligence 

White Paper on AI 
setting out options 
for a legislative 
framework for 
trustworthy AI  

Follow-up to 
White Paper on AI 
on safety, liability, 
fundamental 
rights and data 
(Q4 2020) 

Skills 

A Digital Education 
Action Plan to 
boost digital 
literacy and 
competences at all 
levels of education 
(Q2 2020) 

A reinforced Skills 
Agenda to 
strengthen digital 
skills throughout 
society and a 
reinforced Youth 
Guarantee to put a 
strong focus on 
digital skills in early 
career transitions 
(Q2 2020) 

Consumers 

Deliver a new 
Consumer Agenda, 
which will 
empower 
consumers to 
make informed 

•  Objective: Human 
centred digital 
transformation 

•  Digitalisation of 

business and public 
services 

•  Objective: Human 
centred digital 
transformation 

•  Digitalisation of 

business and public 
services 

February 2020: White Paper on AI 
adopted. 

In April 2021, as a follow-up to the White 
Paper on AI, the AI package was presented, 
including: 

•  a proposed AI Act, currently under 
negotiation (trilogues ongoing). 

•  an accompanying Communication on 
Fostering a European approach to 
Artificial Intelligence, and 

•  a revised Coordinated Action Plan on 

AI. 

In September 2022, the Commission issued 
a proposal for an Artificial Intelligence 
Liability Directive.  

Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) 
adopted in September 2020. 

•  Objective: skills, divides 

•  Cardinal point on skills, 
target basic skills 

Cybersecurity Skills Academy proposed on 
18 April 2023 

•  New Skills Agenda presented in July 

2020. 

•  Cardinal point on skills, 
target basic skills 

•  Youth Guarantee reinforced by 
Council Recommendation dated 
October 2020. 

Launched in November 2020. 

•  Objective: human 
centred digital 
transformation 

88 

 
 
 
choices and play an 
active role in the 
digital 
transformation (Q4 
2020) 

Democratic system 

European 
Democracy Action 
Plan to improve 
the resilience of 
our democratic 
systems, support 
media pluralism 
and address the 
threats of external 
intervention in 
European elections 
(Q4 2020) 

Presented in December 2020 

•  Online participation in 

democratic life for all, fair 
and non-discriminatory 
conditions 

Subsequently, several measures were 
adopted, including a Recommendation on 
the safety of journalists (September 2021) 
and an initiative to protect journalists and 
civil society against strategic lawsuits 
against public participation (SLAPPs) (April 
2022). Projects with a focus on legal and 
practical assistance to journalists and 
media councils are ongoing. 

Contributing to the green transition  

Green 

Destination Earth, 
an initiative to 
develop a high 
precision digital 
model of Earth (a 
“Digital Twin of 
the Earth”) that 
would improve 
Europe’s 
environmental 
prediction and 
crisis management 
capabilities 
(Timing: from 
2021) 

Circular electronics 
initiative, 
mobilising existing 
and new 
instruments in line 
with the policy 
framework for 
sustainable 
products of the 
forthcoming 
circular economy 
action plan, to 
ensure that devices 
are designed for 

•  Sustainable ecosystem of 
digital infrastructures, 

Work on the Destination Earth platform 
(including the first two digital twins for 
climate change adaptation and extreme 
weather events) ongoing (phase 1). During 
phase 1, the three main components (core 
platform, data lake and digital twins) will 
be delivered.  

•  Sustainable ecosystem of 
digital infrastructures, 

The new Circular Economy Action Plan 
(adopted in March 2020) sets out further 
details on the actions under the Circular 
Electronics Initiative (within the 
responsibilities of several DGs), including: 

•  Measures for mobile phones, tablets 

and laptops for durability, reparability, 
energy efficiency, 

•  Common charger proposed in 

September 2021, 

• 

Legislative proposal on the Right to 
Repair announced in September 2021 
and adopted on 22 March 2023. 

89 

 
 
durability, 
maintenance, 
dismantling, reuse 
and recycling and 
including a right to 
repair or upgrade 
to extend the 
lifecycle of 
electronic devices 
and to avoid 
premature 
obsolescence 
(2021) 

Initiatives to 
achieve climate-
neutral, highly 
energy-efficient 
and sustainable 
data centres by no 
later than 2030 
and transparency 
measures for 
telecoms operators 
on their 
environmental 
footprint 

•  Sustainable ecosystem of 
digital infrastructures 

Mix of existing instruments, reviews of 
existing legislation and new initiatives, 
including:  

• 

• 

the revision of the Energy Efficiency 
Directive (reporting and transparency 
requirement for the energy 
performance of datacentres), currently 
at the final stages of the trilogues, 

JRC’s European Code of Conduct for 
Energy Efficiency in Datacentres, 
updated every year, 

•  Action Plan on Digitalising the Energy 

System (October 2022); CNECT 
commissioned a study with JRC to 
explore possibilities to develop 
common indicators for measuring the 
environmental footprint of electronic 
communications services, 

•  Delegated Act of the Taxonomy 

Regulation (classifying investments in 
data centres adhering to the best 
practices of the JRC’s European Code 
of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in 
Data Centres as “green”), 

•  Ecodesign Regulation on servers and 
data storage products; revision being 
prepared based on study 
commissioned by GROW,  

•  EU Green Public Procurement criteria 
for data centres, server and cloud 
services. 

90