On Friday 8 July, the Czech Minister for Digital Affairs, Ivan Bartoš, detailed the Czech Republic’s priorities for the next six months, during which the country will hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Cybersecurity, which has been announced several times in recent weeks, is expected to be a key issue during the Czech term of office at the head of the EU Council (see EUROPE 12977/21).
“We will have discussions on cyber security issues, we want to focus on cyber crisis management”, confirmed the minister.
In addition, he said, digitalisation and digital transformation will also be among the priorities for the Czech Presidency of the EU Council, as well as the development of training and skills “appropriate for the 21st century”.
The Czech Presidency of the Council will also have to work on ongoing dossiers, starting with artificial intelligence (AI), a text on which the Parliament is also continuing its work (see EUROPE 12983/19).
The issue of the European digital identity (see EUROPE 12969/13) will also be part of the discussions, Bartoš added, adding that the Czech Presidency also hopes to make progress on the future Data Act (see EUROPE 12923/26), working on its interrelation with the General Data Protection Regulation and the management of data flows.
“These two texts on AI and the digital identity framework can have a direct effect on European citizens”, insisted the Czech minister.
Finally, the Ukrainian issue, in the context of Russia’s war of aggression, will also be part of the Czech Presidency’s work. In this respect, Ivan Bartoš said, the priority would be to “help Ukraine acquire information and communication technology equipment”. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)