Brussels, 9 January 2023
The Digital Decade policy programme 2030, a monitoring and cooperation mechanism to achieve common targets for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030, has entered into force yesterday.
For the first time, the European Parliament, Member States and the Commission have jointly set concrete objectives and targets in the four key areas of digital skills, infrastructure including connectivity, the digitalisation of businesses, and online public services, in respect of the Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles. The objectives and targets are accompanied by a cyclical cooperation process starting today, to take stock of progress and define milestones so that they can be reached by 2030. The programme also creates a new framework for multi-country projects that will allow Member States to join forces on digital initiatives.
Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, said:
“Technology will continue to play an increasingly important role in our societies and in our lives. With the monitoring mechanism we now have concrete goals for how to make digital technology work for all people and for businesses.”
Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said:
“It is important for Europe to embrace the Digital Decade in order to ensure our digital transformation is successful. To achieve this, we must prioritise the development of highly-skilled engineers, increased connectivity across the continent, and improved infrastructure for our SMEs. By focusing on key technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, fiber optic networks, quantum computing, and microelectronics, we will work with Member States to achieve our goal of resilience and autonomy by 2030.”
In June, the Commission will publish the first State of the Digital Decade report, to provide an update, assessment and recommendation on progress towards the targets and objectives. More information in the press release and in the updated Questions and Answers and on the dedicated online factpage.
Source – EU Commission