The Council of the EU has started to adapt its position on the Digital Europe Programme in the light of the European Council’s guidelines on the multiannual financial framework. According to a working document seen by EUROPE, the German Presidency is proposing two options to take account of the reduction in the overall budget: either to reduce all priorities equally, or to preserve flagship priorities at the expense of the others.
The Digital Europe programme was proposed in 2018 by the European Commission to increase the EU’s international competitiveness and to develop and strengthen Europe’s strategic digital capabilities (see EUROPE 12305/5). After having defined their respective positions, the EU Parliament and Council started negotiations and reached a provisional agreement on 13 February (see EUROPE 12221/7).
However, a number of provisions were dependent on the broader discussions on the EU budget, which culminated at the level of Heads of State or Government in the summer of 2020. The note prepared by Berlin stresses that the agreement reached at the European Council confirms a reduction of 17.47% in the budget for the future Digital Europe programme: €7.588 billion (instead of the €9.191 billion originally proposed by the European Commission) (see EUROPE 12532/2).
In this context, Berlin suggests reducing the financial envelope allocated to each priority by 17.47%, or affecting the programme’s flagship priorities - high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity (priorities 1 to 3) - as little as possible and cutting back on advanced digital skills and the use of digital technologies (priorities 4 and 5).
The document also contains other proposals on points left open by the EU Parliament and Council, such as the deletion of the reference to the rule of law (recital 49). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)