The European ministers responsible for digital affairs met on Friday 10 October in Horsens, Denmark, under the aegis of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, to discuss, first and foremost, the protection of minors online and the introduction of a European age verification tool for accessing certain social networks (see EUROPE 13719/7).
Caroline Stage Olsen, the Danish Minister of Digital Affairs, has come out strongly in favour of a “ common European framework” for the introduction of an online age verification tool, although consensus on an age of majority is far from being reached among the EU27.
“I would be in favour of new legislation: we need clear regulations because guidelines can change from one day to the next. This is not a case of regulation, and from the point of view of simplification, it is not a case of ‘unnecessary’ regulation”, she declared, while welcoming the political attention that the subject had gained in recent months.
Spain, which is known to be very much in favour of such a measure, has announced that it is preparing a draft organic law, which would raise the minimum age for registering on a social network without parental consent from 14 to 16 years of age.
Cyprus, which is due to take over the rotating Presidency of the EU Council in January, will also join those countries who are currently testing the European Commission’s age verification scheme (see EUROPE 13680/15).
Although there is a consensus on the principle of protecting minors online, the question of a minimum age for accessing the majority of social networks is still far from unanimous. Most Member States are fairly critical of self-declaration, but discussions have not resulted in a clear majority over the exact digital age of majority, with Member States talking about different ages ranging from 12 to 16.
Caroline Olsen is in favour of that age being set to 15 years of age (see EUROPE 13681/25), but is open to the possibility of leaving flexibility to the Member States, even if this means risking fragmentation at European level.
The most critical countries put forward the arguments of freedom of expression and access to information for the very young, as well as the need to make parents more responsible. The lack of a legal basis for such a ban was also cited as an obstacle to the legislation being adopted.
No platform was mentioned by name during the meeting. Instead, the general idea was to reach a consensus on the intrinsic characteristics of certain networks (algorithm, addictive design, dangerous content, etc.) that could make them inappropriate for minors.
The idea of a European tool to ensure the effective verification of the age of users is also gaining ground, notably through the future European Digital Identity (eID). The technical details, however, are still to be worked out.
The committee of experts mentioned by Ursula von der Leyen in September (see EUROPE 13716/7), which has been tasked with guiding the European Commission on the subject, is due to be set up by the end of the year, according to the Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen.
The ‘Jutland Declaration’, which was published at the end of the meeting, was co-signed by 25 of the 27 Member States (see EUROPE 13719/7). Belgium and Estonia are missing from the list, with Brussels justifying its absence by the wish to “first take more time to explore all the different tools available”. Norway and Iceland, who were also present at Horsens, signed the agreement.
See the declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/iwn (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)