The day after a Transport Council (see other news), the Telecommunications Ministers of the EU Member States will meet in Brussels on Tuesday 6 December. The Ministers will have a busy agenda, as they are expected, among other things, to adopt their position (‘general approach’) for future interinstitutional negotiations with the European Parliament on legislation on artificial intelligence (AI) and the European Digital Identity (EiD) portfolio.
“AI has been a sensitive topic, but I think we have achieved a good balance between stimulating investment and innovation on the one hand and ensuring safety for consumers and data on the other. We are rather confident”, said an EU diplomatic source.
As a reminder, AI legislation is intended to provide a framework for the development of this technology in the EU, in particular for systems classified as ‘high risk’ (see EUROPE 13067/11).
The Digital Identity Regulation should eventually enable at least 80% of European citizens to use a digital solution to identify themselves and access key public services (see EUROPE 13053/7).
“This is a very technical subject, we need to harmonise the existing framework and give flexibility. The system must be easy for users and the certification standards must be high. We are rather confident that we will achieve unanimity among the Member States”, said a European diplomatic source.
The competent Ministers will also take stock of the two legislative dossiers under discussion, namely the harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (‘Data Act’) (see EUROPE 13073/12) and cybersecurity requirements for products with digital components (cyber-resilience legislation) (see EUROPE 13022/9).
“We have only just begun discussions on cyber resilience. For the ‘Data Act’, we will continue the work under the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU with a third comprehensive compromise proposal”, a European diplomatic source detailed.
In addition, the Telecommunications Ministers of the Member States will hold a policy debate on digital skills for the digital decade with the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation. Further discussions on digital skills measures for SMEs and best practices and experiences in information and communication technologies should also take place. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)