On Thursday 28 July, the European Commission published its annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report, which takes stock of Member States’ progress in digital. While the report, which is based on four pillars, shows considerable progress in several areas in 2021, most significantly it demonstrates the divide that remains within the EU.
Specifically, the report highlights that only 54% of people in the EU have basic digital skills. Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Sweden are the most advanced in this respect, while Romania and Bulgaria are the most far behind.
The target set as part of the Path to the Digital Decade - for which an interinstitutional political agreement was reached on 14 July (see EUROPE 12993/8) - is for 80% of EU citizens to have these basic skills by 2030.
Similarly, there is still a significant gap between urban and rural areas regarding broadband infrastructure. In addition, more than 90% of households are covered in Malta, Luxembourg, Denmark, Spain, Latvia, the Netherlands and Portugal, while only one in five Greek households has access to these networks.
However, 5G coverage of populated areas, which is also being rolled out in a fragmented manner, has expanded significantly, from 14% in 2020 to 66% in 2021.
Furthermore, the use of technology within companies also shows significant differences. Overall, 55% of SMEs had a basic level in 2021. This figure rises to 86% in Sweden and 82% in Finland, but is as low as 25% in Bulgaria and 22% in Romania. As a reminder, the Commission’s objective is for at least 90% of EU SMEs to have a basic level of digital literacy by 2030.
Finally, Estonia, Denmark, Finland and Malta score highest on the digitalisation of public services, i.e. having the option - or not - to complete key procedures online. Romania and Greece have the lowest scores.
In response to these gaps, the Commission recalls that Member States have committed to devote at least 20% of their national envelope, under Recovery and Resilience Plans, to support the digital transformation. To date, this represents a budget of €127 billion, or 26% of the total allocation of the 25 plans approved by the EU Council.
In addition, the Commission emphasises that the Path to the Digital Decade should play an important role through the Commission developing forward-looking trajectories at EU level, followed by the presentation by Member States of their national strategic roadmaps. They will have to lay out their national trajectories and the measures they will take to achieve them, including planned regulatory measures and investments. These measures will then be evaluated by DESI.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/2ra (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)