During an informal Competitiveness meeting organised by the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU on Monday 16 July, Ministers for Industry had their first chance to provide the outlines of the responses required for tackling the industrial challenges created by the expansion in artificial intelligence at European and national levels.
During a press conference with Commissioners Andrus Ansip (single digital market) and Elżbieta Bieńkowska (internal market and industry), Andrus Ansip (single market and digital), Margarete Schramböck the Austrian Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs said that, “We want to put industrial policy back in its place, that's to say, at the same level as environmental and consumer policy”. She also pointed out that the industrial sector accounts for a quarter of all jobs in Europe, 50% of exports, as well as 65% of investment in research and development.
During the morning plenary session, the Austrian Presidency wanted to focus the entire debate on the potential artificial intelligence (AI) represented to the industrial sector. This technology is currently revolutionising all economic sectors and the European Union is losing ground to China and the US in this respect. To this end, the Presidency raised a whole range of questions for structuring the debate and assessing the advantages AI could have for European industry, the means for creating a European “ecosystem” that supported the expansion of AI and maintained European competitiveness in the face of international rivals. According to the information we have received, many different responses were provided in this context.
Many points were raised by the member states. On the question of the Union lagging behind international competitors, some contributions expressed their wish to speed up the European decision-making process in an effort to become more proactive. Several speakers highlighted the need to create more synergies between European policies due to the transversality of this phenomenon. The question of speeding up the commercialisation and marketing of innovations was also highlighted, as well as the need to support SMEs.
Several delegations highlighted the challenges involved in producing big European data for nourishing and helping AI to evolve, whilst expressing concerns about the EU falling behind in cloud computing. During the press conference, Mr Ansip indicated that almost 50% of data currently produced was controlled by US actors and completely escaped the control of the EU. The question of competencies was also raised, particularly during the session dedicated to this theme, during the afternoon. Ms Schramböck indicated that in the future, the question of wage levels would be less and less decisive, whilst that of qualification levels would become increasingly important. In this connection, ministers expressed an interest in the dual education system currently in force in Germany and Austria, which is largely based on vocational apprenticeships in businesses. Digital skills among the elderly were also discussed.
The other points discussed include: the need to support hi-tech infrastructure, invest in “B2B” (Business to business) platforms, particularly for SMEs, as well as the need for a European ethical structure on artificial intelligence. On this final point, Mr Ansip mentioned, during the press conference, the case involving Microsoft and IBM, which had set out their own codes of conduct in this area.
Austrian document in September
During the press conference the Minister also indicated that the Austrian Presidency would be presenting a document in September that would be based on the debates held that day. The document would tackle the industrial question in several different dimensions, she informed EUROPE. This would particularly involve an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the EU in the industrial sector. In this connection she mentioned the need to create indicators for measuring the efficiency of European policies.
The Presidency also intends to put forward a similar document on international trade this October, which will tackle the question of unfair competition, amongst other things. Finally, at the end of the year, the Austrian Presidency will present, in partnership with the European Commission, an initiative on artificial intelligence (see EUROPE 12009).
Croatia signs Declaration on Artificial Intelligence. In a backdrop to the informal meeting, the Croatian Minister signed the Declaration on Artificial Intelligence presented by the European Commission last April. One of the objectives of this declaration is to create synergies between the European funds for strengthening European investment in AI. Together with Croatia, all member states are now signed up to the initiative. Vice President Ansip was particularly pleased with this news. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)