DAILY NEWS 

Brussels, 09 January 2023 

First cooperation and monitoring cycle kicks off to reach EU 2030 Digital Decade targets

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.

(For more information: Johannes Bahrke – Tel.: +32 2 295 86 15; Charles Manoury – Tel.: +32 2 291 33 91)

Competition: Commission extends scope of anonymous whistleblower tool

The European Commission has extended the scope of its anonymous antitrust whistleblower tool to include mergers and State Aid issues. As a result of this extension, individuals will now be able to alert the Commission about all types of possible breaches of EU competition rules while maintaining their anonymity.

The whistleblower tool was introduced in 2017 to allow any person to anonymously report to the Commission cartels and other antitrust violations such as price coordination, agreements on procurement bids and unfair exclusion of rivals. Citizens can now also blow the whistle and help the Commission uncover merger-related infringements such as gun jumping as well as instances of unlawful State aid.

Since it was launched, the tool has served to detect unlawful practices more quickly and contributed to the success of the Commission’s competition investigations, with a steady stream of around 100 messages per year sent via the tool. The decision to expand the scope of the whistleblower tool offers synergies across all areas of EU competition law.

The Commission encourages individuals with such inside knowledge to reach out by sending an anonymous message here.

This tool is conceived to preserve the anonymity of informants who have reasons to believe that their reporting may lead to retaliation against them in any form. The Commission uses a specifically designed encrypted messaging system that allows two-way communications, enabling the whistleblower to provide information and the Commission to ask for further clarifications. The service is run by a specialised external service provider, which acts as an intermediary and relays only the content of received messages without forwarding any metadata that could be used to identify the individual providing the information. 

More information can be found in the Commission’s whistleblower communication tools’ website.

(For more information: Arianna Podesta – Tel.: +32 2 298 70 24; Maria Tsoni – Tel.: +32 2 299 05 26)

Ukraine reconstruction: Executive Vice-President Timmermans in Kyiv to discuss with government representatives immediate needs, green reconstruction plans and renewable energy

Today, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, is in Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and various government representatives on the state of play in the country and the immediate needs on the ground in light of Russia’s intensified attacks against critical infrastructure. He will discuss in particular concrete support to the energy sector and energy supply, as well as the government’s plan for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

In addition to his bilateral meeting with the President, the Executive Vice-President will have meetings with Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal; Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Olha Stefanishyna; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba; Minister of Energy, German Galushchenko; and Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strilets. The EU supports the reconstruction of Ukraine based on the European Green Deal objectives, in light of its path to EU membership as well as the future competitiveness of its economy, placing renewable energy development and just transition at the heart of the country’s reconstruction plans.

(For more information: Tim McPhie – Tel.: +32 2 295 86 02; Ana Crespo Parrondo – Tel.: +32 2 298 13 25)

Labour migration: Commission and Member States advance cooperation through new platform

Tomorrow, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, and Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, will open the first meeting of the Labour Migration Platform with representatives from Member States specialising in migration and employment policy, as well as European Social and Economic Partners. The platform has been set up to advance labour migration to the EU with the goal of attracting much needed skills and talent from non-EU countries. As the Commission highlighted by proposing the year 2023 as the European Year of Skills, while a skilled workforce is crucial for the future of Europe’s economies and societies and to make the most of the opportunities the green and digital transitions offer, Member States are facing labour and skills shortages. One measure to help tackle these is well-managed labour migration. At tomorrow’s meeting, the participants will discuss labour market challenges, exchange best practices regarding labour migration and advance EU initiatives as announced in the Skills and Talent Package. As cooperation is key, the Labour Migration Platform will convene on a regular basis.

(For more information: Anitta Hipper – Tel.: +32 2 298 56 91; Veerle Nuyts – Tel.: +32 2 299 63 02; Fiorella Belciu – Tel.: +32 2 299 37 34; Flora Matthaes – Tel.: +32 2 298 39 51)

Tentative agendas for forthcoming Commission meetings

Note that these items can be subject to changes. 

Upcoming events of the European Commission

Eurostat press releases

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