On Thursday 28 January, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU presented its digital priorities to MEPs on the Committee on Industry (ITRE). Pedro Nuno Santos (Minister for Telecommunications) and Pedro Siza Vieira (Minister for Industry) stated that the digital transition will be one of their country’s three thematic priorities during the next six months.
In its indicative timetable, the Portuguese Presidency has left open the possibility of an agreement on the Data Governance Act, the Roaming Regulation and revision of the Network Infrastructure Directive at the Telecommunications Council meeting on 4 June.
The Portuguese Presidency is aware of the degree of difficulty involved, however, and so has announced a progress report on the draft regulation on the confidentiality of electronic communications (see EUROPE 12630/12). “E-privacy is the other side of the coin of the digital transition. If we want citizens’ trust, we need to guarantee privacy, whether for people or for businesses”, said Nuno Santos, as he acknowledged that the Council of the EU has spent too long discussing this issue.
The Portuguese Presidency also intends to present a progress report on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) to the Competitiveness Council meeting on 27 May. “We are still in the early stages. The issue is being discussed in a Council working group and we will have a progress report. After that, we will be able to report to the European Parliament on the next steps and see how we can interact”, said Siza Vieira.
In addition, the rotating Presidency plans to present conclusions on cybersecurity at the General Affairs Council meeting in March. It will be organising a “Digital Day” in March and a “Digital Assembly” in June. At the end of the meeting, it will issue a Lisbon Declaration on digital democracy. The Presidency also announced that it would be inaugurating the EllaLink, the first underwater cable between Europe and Latin America, in June. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)