The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which began on 1 January, will focus on artificial intelligence (AI), data, cybersecurity and the digital transition in the digital field.
In detail, the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU will start negotiations with the European Parliament on harmonised rules for AI. As a reminder, the Council of the EU adopted its position for the future inter-institutional negotiations at a Telecommunications Council on 6 December 2022 (see EUROPE 13078/12).
In addition, the digital identity wallet should be high on the agenda. On 6 December last year, the Council of the EU also adopted its position on this topic, often described as highly technical (see EUROPE 13078/11). The Presidency has set itself the objective of “going as far as possible in the negotiations” on this issue, it states in its programme.
Data legislation will also be a key issue. The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU plans to close the file on the Member States’ side so that negotiations with the Parliament can begin. Discussions on the subject are continuing in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13080/11).
The issue of cybersecurity will also be high on the agenda during Sweden’s mandate as head of the EU Council. Work will continue on the Commission’s proposal for legislation on cyber resilience (see EUROPE 13065/9) and the Swedish Presidency also indicates that it intends to focus on the negotiations on the regulation on cyber security measures in the EU institutions, agencies and bodies (see EUROPE 13066/5).
Finally, further work should be carried out over the next 6 months on connectivity infrastructure, with a view to reducing the costs of developing a high-speed network for electronic communication, and on security and privacy in electronic communications.
See the Presidency programme: https://aeur.eu/f/4p5 (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)