On Friday 6 October, the Estonian prime minister published a conclusions document on the talks held among EU heads of state at a Digital Summit in Tallinn the previous week. Juri Ratas brings up the questions of e-Government, cybersecurity, infrastructure and skills.
He avoids focussing too much on a question on which the EU28 were divided at the meeting, namely taxing internet giants (see EUROPE 11873), but unlike the view expressed by Luxembourg that fast progress was needed in the EU in the direction of a temporary solution while international talks are held on the question at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), he said the EU was determined to change tax rules at global level and adjust its own tax regimes in order to ensure that profits generated on the internet within the European Union can be taxed where the value was created. The talks state that further discussions on how such a system could be set up are needed. At the summit, the prime minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, made it clear he preferred talks on the question to be held at the OECD rather than the European Union.
The Estonian prime minister repeated the European Union’s big ambitions for digital innovation. For e-Government, he stressed the importance of getting administrations and the entire public sector involved in the digital age, particularly mobility, healthcare and energy. An innovative electronic public market is needed and a single administrative one-stop-shop system are also needed.
On the question of cybersecurity, he stressed the need for a common approach to certifying top-level security, common standards, operational capacity and collective responses to crises. He said the EU needed to improve preparation both in the member states and at EU level, along with boosting its capacity for managing crisis and analytical and incident verification work. Ratas said extended cooperation was necessary on defence, including active defence. He backed the idea of investing in new, secure technology such as blockchains and quantic IT, which he said can provide protection for all sectors of the European economy.
Finally, when it comes to the future of the economy and of society in general, he recommended speeding up the digital transformation of enterprises using the latest technology, including artificial intelligence, megadata processing and the blockchain technology. He said the EU had to consider setting up an agency to carry out high-risk, high-profit investment. The conclusions document can be found at: http://www.eu2017.ee/political-meetings/ministerial-egovernment-conference. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)