On Thursday 15 December, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU approved the joint Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles.
As a reminder, this declaration aims to provide guidance for decision-makers to include a digital vision when designing policies and to serve as a reference point for companies when deploying new technologies.
“We want Europe to be fit for the digital age. This declaration puts our citizens at the heart of the digital transition and ensures that our values also apply to the digital sphere”, commented the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
As part of this declaration, the European Parliament, the EU Council and the European Commission agreed on several political commitments, such as using technology to bring people together, safeguarding fundamental rights online and providing access to public services online.
In addition, the right to disconnect, the protection of privacy, the control of personal data and the freedom to choose, use and interact with artificial intelligence (AI) systems are among the priorities. This last point has been aligned with the ongoing discussions on the future AI legislation (see EUROPE 13078/12).
Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council reached a provisional agreement on this issue on 14 November (see EUROPE 13063/17).
See the declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/4oi (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)