MEPs approved, on Thursday 24 November, the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the EU Council on legislation setting out the Digital Decade policy programme (529 votes in favour, 22 against, 25 abstentions) (see EUROPE 13012/9).
As a reminder, one of the aims of this programme is to ensure that 80% of the population aged 16-74 has at least basic digital skills.
During the interinstitutional negotiations, the Parliament had also called for at least 75% of European companies to use ‘cloud computing’, ’big data’ and artificial intelligence services.
In addition, the agreement with the EU Council foresees that more than 90% of European SMEs reach at least a basic level of digital intensity within the decade.
“The adoption of the programme today will bring new opportunities for businesses, especially SMEs and start-ups, as well as concrete benefits for our citizens in their daily lives”, commented Martina Dlabajová (Renew Europe, Czech).
The Digital Decade programme, which will also aim to support multi-country projects, provides for a concrete legal structure and should also facilitate the co-financing of projects by several EU Member States, the European Commission, as well as by public and private investors.
The text will now have to be formally adopted by the EU Council before being published in the EU Official Journal. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)