Brussels, 9 April 2024
The EU must be able to preserve and deepen its digital legacy for a fully functional digital single market. This is one of the core conclusions of the Renew Europe Digital Day held at the European Parliament today, an event-discussion reviewing all the achievements in the digital field in the mandate 2019-2024, as well as debating the remaining challenges and opportunities ahead of 2024 elections with concerned stakeholders. Hosted by our MEP and Coordinator for Internal Market and Consumer Protection Dita Charanzová, the forum also featured contributions from Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Age and Competition, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Renew Europe MEPs and some leading experts.
In the last five years, the EU has achieved significant milestones in shaping the digital landscape of Europe and we are proud of our contribution. The adoption of pivotal legislation such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA) has laid the foundation for a safer and more transparent online environment, empowering consumers with greater choices and protections. Likewise, legislation such as the Digital Decade Policy Program, Data Act, Gigabit infrastructure and cybersecurity laws (CRA and NIS2) have enabled a more resilient, more secure, fairer and better connected digital single market. Finally, the recent and well-known agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act makes the EU the first continent in the world to regulate and ensure an ethic and transparent AI, mitigating potential risks and maximising benefits for all citizens.
Renew Europe led the process of furthering the digital single market in these last five years with a core purpose: ambitious but proportionate legislation for better consumer protection, as well as an innovative business landscape, and that will remain our priority.
MEP Dita Charanzová (Czech Republic), Vice-President of the European Parliament and Renew Europe Coordinator on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), stated:
“The last five years has been a success in setting down the rules of the road. Now we have to support our European companies to innovate and to complete the digital transformation. Clear digital rules help not only citizens live a better digital life, they help our companies to grow and scale up in Europe. At the same time, there is more to do. The days of the Wild West internet might be over, but we still must take further actions to make the internet a safer place for our children and society as a whole. Let´s continue to work to make sure the internet promotes the best of Europe, not the worst”.
MEP Nicola Danti (Italia Viva, Italy), Renew Europe Vice-President, who delivered the closing remarks of the event, declared:
“In these five years, Renew Europe has led the European Parliament in legislating on the digital environment. We are developing an EU way for digital. We have made unprecedented strides towards the creation of a digital single market that serves European industry and the competitiveness of our companies vis-à-vis the digital giants, but that, at the same time, simplifies citizens’ lives, strengthens our rights and protection on the Internet, gives more opportunities to European consumers and promotes our values online as much as offline. Thanks to Renew Europe, the EU is safer, more attractive and more competitive – and we will continue on this path in the next mandate!”
Source – Renew Europe (via email)