The Commission welcomes the political agreement on the Digital Decade political agenda leading to a successful digital transformation in Europe
The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the 2030 Political Agenda: Road to the Digital Decade. The program creates a monitoring and cooperation mechanism to achieve the common goals and objectives for Europe
This concerns the area of skills and infrastructure, including connectivity, as well as the digitalization of businesses and public online services, as well as the respect of EU digital rights and principles in achieving the common objectives.
Road to the digital decade
In order to effectively monitor progress, the Commission, together with Member States, will develop forecast trajectories at EU level for each target. In turn, Member States will propose national strategic roadmaps outlining their national projected trajectories and actions to achieve the general and specific objectives, including planned regulatory measures and investments.
Progress will be measured by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on an improved Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and assessed against the developed trajectories in an annual State of the Digital Decade report to be presented at European Parliament and the Council. In order to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of the digital transformation, the report will also review the progress made in relation to the goals, rights and principles of the "Digital Decade".
Member States and the Commission will cooperate to address areas where progress is insufficient and where there are persistent deviations from national trajectories. At any moment, the Commission and the Member States can make joint commitments and set up multinational projects to achieve the 2030 digital goals.
The Commission will review the targets until 2026 to take account of technological, economic and societal developments.
Multinational projects
Large-scale projects are crucial to achieving the digital goals and the digital transformation by 2030. Through multinational projects, Member States can pool resources and collaborate closely to build digital capacity that would otherwise be difficult for them to achieve on their own.
The Commission identified an initial list of investment areas for multinational projects, including, for example, shared data infrastructure, deployment of 5G corridors, connected public administration, high-performance computing, European infrastructure for blockchain services and low-power processors. The Commission is ready to guide Member States in the identification and development of multinational projects and may propose several during the cooperation cycle.
The political program creates a new legal instrument, the Consortium for European Digital Infrastructure (ECDI). KECI will support the implementation of multinational projects and facilitate Member States to join forces when investing in digital infrastructures.
Next steps
The political agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council is now subject to formal approval by the two co-legislators. Once approved, the policy agenda for the Digital Decade will enter into force.
As a first step after the entry into force of the policy agenda, the Commission, together with Member States, will develop KPIs to measure progress towards the 2030 digital goals in the preparation of the first annual State of the Digital Decade report for which it is likely to be adopted as early as June 2023. KPEs will be laid down in an implementing act. Within nine months, Member States will present their first National Strategic Roadmaps, kicking off the cycle of cooperation.
Context
In March 2021, the Commission presented the Digital Compass to 2030 with targets on digital skills, infrastructures, businesses and public services.
During the State of the Union address in September 2021, President Von der Leyen presented the Digital Decade Roadmap proposal for Europe's digital transformation by 2030. The proposal formalized a broader set of digital goals of goals and provided a strategic framework for achieving them.
The Commission also proposed a Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for Digital Transformation. The joint declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission will ensure that everyone can participate in a safe, secure and inclusive digital environment. The declaration is currently being discussed in the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
According to information from the European Commission, IP/22/4503
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