On Tuesday 15 July, two Danish ministers appeared before members of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) to detail the priorities of the Danish Presidency of the EU Council, particularly in the digital field.
“I have two priorities: digital competitiveness - it is absolutely essential to make progress on this point collectively, as the EU is falling behind in the global race - and the protection of minors online, by limiting the power of the digital giants”, said Caroline Stage Olsen, Denmark’s Minister for Digital Affairs.
Her colleague, Morten Bødskov, Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, reiterated Denmark’s desire to “digitalise the internal market, with simplification and harmonisation”, once again to “develop competitiveness and reduce bureaucracy” (see EUROPE 13671/4).
Very firm on the issue of the protection of minors online (see EUROPE 13680/16), the minister insisted on the importance for the Commission to “strengthen the application of the Digital Services Act”, to rapidly publish the results of the investigations that have been underway for more than a year (see EUROPE 13316/10), and to propose, if necessary, a regulation to effectively establish an age limit for access to social networks (see EUROPE 13680/15).
“We need a regulation on age verification online - then we’ll see whether it’s up to the member countries themselves to define a specific age. It’s an open discussion, but we need to legislate on the subject”, she said.
On the subject of artificial intelligence, Caroline Stage Olsen made no secret of the Danish position on the AI Act and the possible postponement of its implementation (see EUROPE 13673/15): “This is an opportunity to make changes and listen to the sector. Implementation will have to wait until the guidelines are ready, but we need to move quickly”, she stated, nevertheless being “in favour” of the text.
As for the future ‘Digital Fairness Act’, the Danish minister insisted on the need to include addictive designs of digital services, ‘dark patterns’ and advertising targeted at minors (see EUROPE 13645/12). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)