The French Presidency of the European Union (FPEU) came to an end on June 30.
This presidency has allowed a series of elements that could be considered as advances.
In terms oftechnological autonomy, France wanted to accelerate the launch of four major projects of common European interest (PIEEC) during its presidency. PIIECs make it possible to mobilize billions of euros of investment in factories, without complying with State aid restrictions, provided that several States coordinate.
At the European Digital Sovereignty Conference on February 7, twelve Member States expressed their willingness to pre-notify the European Commission of a PIIEC in the field of cloud computing by spring 2022. 7 billion in European public and private funding could be mobilized to meet this strategic challenge. On February 7, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive package of measures to ensure the EU's security of supply, resilience and technological sovereignty in the semiconductor field. The Toulouse Space Summit of February 16-17 made progress towards the creation of sovereign European infrastructures. The European Union will have an autonomous connectivity constellation and has converged on a common vision for space traffic management to protect our satellites from collisions and hostile acts.
With regard to digital regulation, the French Presidency has paved the way for the adoption of two major texts: the Digital Market Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aim to better regulate the economic activities of digital giants and to fight against the distribution of illegal content. Both texts could come into force before the end of the year.
The creation of a European task force in charge of proposing a European initiative for the digital commons was announced in February: the report on the digital commons published on June 21 and 22 sets out a series of proposals.
The Strasbourg Declaration on common values and challenges for European public administrations, adopted by the ministers in charge of public administration of the 27 Member States, for its part, provides for " promoting open source softwarewithin public administrations as well as its sharing" .
Références :
Two key laws to regulate digital platforms
Concluded on March 24, the Digital Market Acts (DMA) aims to better regulate the economic activities of the largest platforms, in order to reduce the dependence of businesses and consumers on their services and encourage competition from other companies. With this legislation, large platforms will no longer be able to impose software or applications by default or prevent their uninstallation, promote their services or products, or reuse personal data for targeted advertising purposes unless they have given their explicit consent. In case of infringement, heavy fines are foreseen, up to 10% of the worldwide turnover of the company concerned.
As for the Digital Services Act (DSA) on which a compromise was reached on April 23, it aims to limit the distribution of illegal content (incitement to hatred or violence, harassment, child pornography, apology for terrorism, etc.) and the sale of illegal products online. Major platforms will have to allow member states access to their algorithms and provide a tool for users to report illegal content and products (terrorist messages, calls for hatred or violence, harassment, etc.) so that platforms can quickly remove or disable access to them. The DSA prohibits targeting people with online advertisements based on their religion, sexual preferences, health information or political beliefs. Targeted advertising is also prohibited to minors.
Référence :
A joint declaration on the "dual transition" of digital and environmental issues
18 Member States are calling for the definition, by 2026, of objectives to maximize the use of digital technology for the ecological transition while limiting its carbon and environmental footprint.
They are also committed to continuing the effort to :
reduce European dependencies (semiconductors, raw materials, etc.) in the digital sector;
Reduce the carbon and environmental footprint of digital infrastructures (data centers; processors; network infrastructures; etc.) and electronic equipment, the production of which represents nearly 75% of the sector's carbon footprint;
develop a common methodology to scientifically measure the carbon footprint of the digital sector. The French Presidency is pleased to have been able to include this topic on the European agenda at the Telecom Council of June 3, 2022 and to have been able to negotiate a declaration with the Member States before the end of its presidency.
Référence :
A European initiative of 19 member states around the digital commons
On the occasion of theDigital Assembly co-organized in Toulouse on June 21 and 22 by the French Presidency and the European Commission, the report on the digital commonsinitiated by France, was presented to the participants.
The report makes four proposals:
the creation of a European one-stop shop to guide communities towards adequate funding and public aid;
the launch of a call for projects to rapidly deploy financial assistance to the most strategic commons;
the creation of a European foundation for the digital commons, with shared governance between the States, the European Commission and the digital commons communities;
the implementation of the "digital commons by default" principle in the development of digital tools for public administrations.
Référence :
The Strasbourg Declaration on common values and challenges for European public administrations
On March 17, 2022, the ministers in charge of the public service of the 27 Member States signed a joint declaration on the "common values and challenges for European public administrations".
This declaration is built around three axes
Attractive, modern and innovative public services that set an example
Transparent and resilient public services that meet users' expectations
Quality, inclusive digital public services that respect European values
This declaration foresees, among other things, "to promote open source software within public administrations as well as their sharing, by :
Recognizing the major role played by secure open source solutions in the transformation of public administrations, which allow the pooling of investments among multiple organizations, offer transparency and interoperability by default and guarantee control over the technologies used as well as greater technological independence;
Leveraging open source solutions to strengthen collaboration between public administrations, promoting the sharing of such solutions created or used by administrations within the European Union;
Promoting a fair redistribution of the value created by open source solutions, especially for those who produce and share open source code.
What is the first assessment of the digital component of the French Presidency of the European Union (FPEU)?
The French Presidency of the European Union (FPEU) came to an end on June 30.
This presidency has allowed a series of elements that could be considered as advances.
In terms oftechnological autonomy, France wanted to accelerate the launch of four major projects of common European interest (PIEEC) during its presidency. PIIECs make it possible to mobilize billions of euros of investment in factories, without complying with State aid restrictions, provided that several States coordinate.
At the European Digital Sovereignty Conference on February 7, twelve Member States expressed their willingness to pre-notify the European Commission of a PIIEC in the field of cloud computing by spring 2022. 7 billion in European public and private funding could be mobilized to meet this strategic challenge. On February 7, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive package of measures to ensure the EU's security of supply, resilience and technological sovereignty in the semiconductor field. The Toulouse Space Summit of February 16-17 made progress towards the creation of sovereign European infrastructures. The European Union will have an autonomous connectivity constellation and has converged on a common vision for space traffic management to protect our satellites from collisions and hostile acts.
With regard to digital regulation, the French Presidency has paved the way for the adoption of two major texts: the Digital Market Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aim to better regulate the economic activities of digital giants and to fight against the distribution of illegal content. Both texts could come into force before the end of the year.
The creation of a European task force in charge of proposing a European initiative for the digital commons was announced in February: the report on the digital commons published on June 21 and 22 sets out a series of proposals.
The Strasbourg Declaration on common values and challenges for European public administrations, adopted by the ministers in charge of public administration of the 27 Member States, for its part, provides for " promoting open source softwarewithin public administrations as well as its sharing" .
Références :
Two key laws to regulate digital platforms
Concluded on March 24, the Digital Market Acts (DMA) aims to better regulate the economic activities of the largest platforms, in order to reduce the dependence of businesses and consumers on their services and encourage competition from other companies. With this legislation, large platforms will no longer be able to impose software or applications by default or prevent their uninstallation, promote their services or products, or reuse personal data for targeted advertising purposes unless they have given their explicit consent. In case of infringement, heavy fines are foreseen, up to 10% of the worldwide turnover of the company concerned.
As for the Digital Services Act (DSA) on which a compromise was reached on April 23, it aims to limit the distribution of illegal content (incitement to hatred or violence, harassment, child pornography, apology for terrorism, etc.) and the sale of illegal products online. Major platforms will have to allow member states access to their algorithms and provide a tool for users to report illegal content and products (terrorist messages, calls for hatred or violence, harassment, etc.) so that platforms can quickly remove or disable access to them. The DSA prohibits targeting people with online advertisements based on their religion, sexual preferences, health information or political beliefs. Targeted advertising is also prohibited to minors.
Référence :
A joint declaration on the "dual transition" of digital and environmental issues
18 Member States are calling for the definition, by 2026, of objectives to maximize the use of digital technology for the ecological transition while limiting its carbon and environmental footprint.
They are also committed to continuing the effort to :
reduce European dependencies (semiconductors, raw materials, etc.) in the digital sector;
Reduce the carbon and environmental footprint of digital infrastructures (data centers; processors; network infrastructures; etc.) and electronic equipment, the production of which represents nearly 75% of the sector's carbon footprint;
develop a common methodology to scientifically measure the carbon footprint of the digital sector. The French Presidency is pleased to have been able to include this topic on the European agenda at the Telecom Council of June 3, 2022 and to have been able to negotiate a declaration with the Member States before the end of its presidency.
Référence :
A European initiative of 19 member states around the digital commons
On the occasion of theDigital Assembly co-organized in Toulouse on June 21 and 22 by the French Presidency and the European Commission, the report on the digital commonsinitiated by France, was presented to the participants.
The report makes four proposals:
the creation of a European one-stop shop to guide communities towards adequate funding and public aid;
the launch of a call for projects to rapidly deploy financial assistance to the most strategic commons;
the creation of a European foundation for the digital commons, with shared governance between the States, the European Commission and the digital commons communities;
the implementation of the "digital commons by default" principle in the development of digital tools for public administrations.
Référence :
The Strasbourg Declaration on common values and challenges for European public administrations
On March 17, 2022, the ministers in charge of the public service of the 27 Member States signed a joint declaration on the "common values and challenges for European public administrations".
This declaration is built around three axes
Attractive, modern and innovative public services that set an example
Transparent and resilient public services that meet users' expectations
Quality, inclusive digital public services that respect European values
This declaration foresees, among other things, "to promote open source software within public administrations as well as their sharing, by :
Recognizing the major role played by secure open source solutions in the transformation of public administrations, which allow the pooling of investments among multiple organizations, offer transparency and interoperability by default and guarantee control over the technologies used as well as greater technological independence;
Leveraging open source solutions to strengthen collaboration between public administrations, promoting the sharing of such solutions created or used by administrations within the European Union;
Promoting a fair redistribution of the value created by open source solutions, especially for those who produce and share open source code.