A review of telecommunications rules and a surge in e-health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is what the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is proposing to the Member States, in a draft set of conclusions entitled ‘Shaping Europe’s Digital Future’, in response to the package presented by the Commission on 19 February (see EUROPE 12429/5).
Following the cancellation of physical meetings, Zagreb has invited the 26 Member States to submit their comments in writing by 20 April. It stressed that, depending on how the situation develops, a discussion could take place in the Telecommunications Working Group in May.
Digital Services Act. The document addresses several issues, including data, artificial intelligence, digital skills, technological sovereignty, cybersecurity, and 5/6-G.
Also mentioned, without really taking a position on the subject, is the European Commission’s draft act on digital services, which was due to come into being at the end of 2020. The document underlines “the need for effective action against illegal activities and content online, including the availability of illegal and dangerous goods, while ensuring the protection of fundamental rights in an open Internet”. It also “expresses deep concern” among its authors about very large platforms acting as filters and law-makers.
New measures expected. By way of innovation, the document calls on the Commission to present a package of regulatory measures ensuring that all households have access to a fast connection (‘symmetric gigabit speeds’) by the end of 2021, which would include a review of the Roaming Regulation, the Broadband Cost Cutting Directive, and a new radio spectrum policy programme.
With regard to the sharing of private data, the Croatian Presidency is encouraging the Commission to take concrete steps to facilitate the emergence of new data-driven ecosystems, “where appropriate, through data sharing obligations for companies, in particular in case of systemic market failure”.
Learning from COVID-19. The document also invites Member States and the Commission to conduct an in-depth analysis of the experience gained during the pandemic in order to draw conclusions that will inform the implementation of current and future EU digital policies, in particular in areas such as e-health, digital education, e-governance, data sharing, and broadband connectivity.
For its part, the EPP group in the European Parliament is calling for the EU’s digital policy to be adapted for the health crisis by setting up an EU data centre and a common data standard to collect infection data by reducing bureaucracy for researchers and by implementing a major upgrade of the Internet infrastructure.
See the draft conclusions: https://bit.ly/34lgXvB (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)