Following heads of state, it is now the turn of European ministers to hold a special meeting to discuss digital innovation. The Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU has convened an extraordinary sitting of the Telecoms Council for Luxembourg on 24 October to discuss single digital market initiatives.
The meeting follows up on the Tallinn digital summit (see EUROPE 11873) on 29 September. The meeting’s conclusions document was summarised by the Presidency on 6 October (see EUROPE 11878).
Political pressure
A European source explained to us that the idea is to encourage experts to make compromises. Since the presentation of its strategy in May 2015, the European Commission has unveiled a total of 18 legislative proposals, 14 of which are still being negotiated. We are at a critical time because there’s only a year and a half left in this term of office, explained the source. The European ministers will discuss matters such as the electronic communications code, the role of the European regulators’ body, free circulation of data, a reworking of the European Cybersecurity Agency, e-commerce and privacy in electronic communications.
This falls in with the draft European Summit conclusions document, which calls for a doubling of efforts to bring about the European digital market. The draft document, seen by this newsletter, urges the institutions to step up legislative work and for the member states to implement relevant EU legislation and take all the measures needed in their sphere of competence to shape the new digital age. The document adds that the European Summit will deal with issues that couldn’t be resolved at the level of the Council.
Cybersecurity, connectivity and e-government
The European telecoms ministers will hold a policy debate on cybersecurity in the light of the raft of measures proposed by the European Commission on 13 September (see EUROPE 11865). The measures aim to boost the EU’s resilience to cyberattacks and its cybersecurity capabilities, to create an effective response in penal law and boost international cooperation on cybersecurity. Linked initiatives include strengthening the EU’s agencies for cybersecurity and a certification system for cybersecurity at EU level.
The Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU will provide information about the outcome of the ministerial debate on new generation connectivity and will brief the ministers about the recent Tallinn ministerial declaration on e-government and the Eastern Partnership meeting on the digital economy. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)