C 498/42
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
30.12.2022
19. recommends that proper digital skills should be included in all lifelong learning efforts in order to empower all the European citizens to benefit from the general right of access to the internet.
In this context, education should not be understood simply as training, but should enable citizens to be active participants and to take a reflective approach to information acquisition;
20. stresses, in this regard, that particular focus is needed on digital empowerment of the most vulnerable groups, such as older people, ensuring that they have at least some basic skills and also to support youth in less developed regions whose education performance was mostly affected by the crisis due to the digital divide and the lack of access to appropriate online education in several regions.
EU policies should put more emphasis on regional differences — in particular on less developed regions — when it comes to the allocation of the education budget to respond to the educational emergency, as it was in the recent years.
Digital education content should also integrate the possibilities for children of national minorities, assuring equality by this means for all social backgrounds;
21. stresses that another indispensable part of digital literacy for all sections of the population is sufficient media literacy to assess the reliability of information, particularly in the areas of health, finance and current affairs.
This is particularly true due to the increase in phenomena such as fake news and hate speech;
22. proposes, as a follow-up to the recently issued Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles, that the European Commission put in place a comprehensive framework, legal acts and instruments to enforce European digital rights and foster closer cooperation with European citizens to ensure that digital principles are shared and respond to societal needs.
Indeed, a revision of the EU Charter for Fundamental Rights established in 2000 should be envisaged, taking into account the newly proclaimed digital rights;
23.
welcomes the recommendation put forward by the Conference on the Future of Europe, on establishing equal access to the internet as fundamental right of every European citizen.
In this regard, having a reliable access to the internet and to digital services through a sovereign and resilient EU digital infrastructure is key.
Measures should be taken to ensure to fair and open competition and to prevent monopolies and general abuse of market power, vendor lock-in, data concentration and dependence on third countries in relation to infrastructure and services;
24. suggests, in line with the recommendation put forward by the Specific recommendations for National Regulatory Authorities, from the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (11) that infrastructure sharing (between telecom operators and other service providers such as electricity companies, railways etc.) to reduce costs of deploying broadband networks and remote areas be fostered;
25. points out that many regions have positive experiences with public-private partnerships both to increase digital infrastructure and to reduce the digital divide, and stresses the role of regional digital hubs in rolling out digitalisation;
26. strongly underlines that the European Commission and Member States should leverage the opportunities provided by decentralised working, by promoting living in rural areas, islands and mountain regions and areas with very low population density and dispersed populations, and by leveraging the advantages of living in these areas, which could result in a more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and affordable living if, amongst other basic requirements, digital cohesion is guaranteed, thus meaning with the full availability of key digital services;
27. points to the merits of sharing best practice examples, from across European regions, of policies allowing for sustainable decentralised working possibilities, to ensure that decentralised working is a permanent feature in the workplace in a way that maximises economic, social and environmental benefits;
(11)
Iclaves & Esade, Study on post-COVID measures to close the digital divide, Final Report, October 2021.