The French Presidency of the Council of the EU (FPEU), which took office on 1 January 2022, has presented the priorities it will have during its term as regards digital technology.
In concrete terms, the FPEU will first have to pick up where its predecessor, the Slovenian Presidency of the Council, left off on several issues. Thus, the interinstitutional negotiations on the revision of the NIS Directive, pertaining to the cybersecurity resilience of critical entities, will continue (see EUROPE 12846/1).
The French Presidency will also inherit the start of negotiations with the European Parliament on two major issues, namely the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 12853/3) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see EUROPE 12854/21). EU Member States’ internal market and industry ministers adopted their position (‘general approach’) on DMA and DSA on 25 November (see EUROPE 12840/10).
Work on artificial intelligence—a subject on which the French Presidency confirmed that it has opted for a human-based approach—will continue as well (see EUROPE 12844/22).
The French Presidency will also work on developing a framework to make it easier to access, store, and share quality data while simultaneously protecting citizens’ rights.
In this sense, it indicated that it would continue the work that has already been started on the regulation on privacy and data protection in the context of electronic communications (‘ePrivacy’) (see EUROPE 12833/5).
Digital identity and the justice system
Part of the work undertaken during France’s term at the head of the Council of the EU will also be devoted to digital identity. On 3 June, the European Commission unveiled the framework for a digital identity wallet that would be available to all EU citizens, residents, and businesses (see EUROPE 12733/1).
Finally, protecting financial transactions from cybercrime threats will be given “high priority”. Beyond digital finance, the French Presidency will work on developing the digitalisation of the judicial system and access to digital evidence (see EUROPE 12764/4).
Digital technology will also be at the heart of discussions on growth and the ecological and energy transition, especially during the next ‘European Union-African Union’ summit, which will take place this coming 17 and 18 February, and the next inter-ministerial forum, which will be held on 22 February and will bring together EU Member States, the European Commission, and partner countries from the Indo-Pacific region.
A ministerial conference dedicated to digital challenges will take place in early February. Some of the topics mentioned as well as digital sovereignty issues will be discussed. In addition, a digital assembly will be held in June.
See the full programme of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU (in French): https://bit.ly/3EOfJcZ (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)