GERMAN PRESIDENCY: II. A STRONGER AND MORE INNOVATIVE EUROPE

Expanding the EU’s digital sovereignty

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown more clearly than ever that Europe must achieve sovereignty in the digital domain in order to remain capable of action on its own also in the future. We therefore want to establish digital sovereignty as a leitmotiv of European digital policy and, during our Council Presidency, to work together on responses for approaching technical developments such as artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to ensure that, in the context of fair competition, we increase our prosperity, protect our security and uphold our values. We want to work to ensure that Europe has state-of-the-art skills in the field of key digital technologies while preserving the openness of the European single market. This includes consolidating a monitoring system for European digital capacities, a high level of public and private investment in strengthening digital capacities and a common understanding among the EU Member States regarding the definition of and path towards greater digital sovereignty. This also includes the establishment of a high-performance, sovereign and resilient European digital infrastructure. This is the only way in which we can achieve equivalent livelihoods in urban and rural areas. The COVID-19 pandemic has once again underscored the importance of a secure and trustworthy, sovereign European data infrastructure. We therefore want to hold intensive discussions among the Member States on initiatives such as Gaia X, as well as on the impact of crises on network capacities and broadband targets. Europe must become better able to take action and shape events in the field of new technologies. Common European standards and norms must support the development of these technologies. Our European values and fundamental rights remain the basis we are championing , also in the digital age. We also want to harness the opportunities posed by the digital transformation to achieve greater stability and to keep the energy and resources consumed by digital infrastructures to the lowest possible level. We are committed to the responsible, and human-centric development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) which serves the good of society in the EU. We should harness the potential of this key technology in the measures to promote economic recovery in all sectors. The use of AI in the healthcare sector has an important role to play in this regard. AI applications should always be developed with the good of our liberal democratic society in mind.

In Europe’s data policy, we want to place the focus on innovation, access to data, responsible data use, data skills and security. We want to advance the discussion launched by the European Data Strategy on rules and guidelines for the governance of common European data spaces. Moreover, we want to continue the debate on the appropriate use of high-quality datasets for digital services. In order to be in a position to manage future EU-wide health crises even more effectively, we will work to improve pan-European access to and the exchange of health-related data. We want to lay the groundwork for a transparent European healthcare data space that provides legal security and, with the help of Council conclusions, to set in motion efforts to draft a code of conduct for the use of healthcare data in line with data protection legislation. We also want to promote the shared use of data, for example in the agricultural sector and in the transport sector and with a view to achieving an enhanced circular economy. The protection of personal data, data sovereignty and consumer protection law must be ensured at all times in this regard. To ensure our citizens’ data sovereignty, they must be able to store data securely on their devices without it being accessed by third parties. To this end, we want to create the legal conditions for ensuring that all devices feature secure storage options or standardised secure elements.

A well-functioning single market also in the digital sphere is an important precondition for ensuring the EU’s competitiveness and for its economic recovery after the coronavirus crisis. We are committed to a modern digital regulatory policy that underpins the accelerated digital transformation with economic policy frameworks and which, at the same time, shapes it in compliance with competition rules, as well as in a consumer-friendly, social and sustainable manner. The single market should be strengthened with improved security provisions for the platform economy and digital services, as well as in the area of consumer protection. We intend to adopt Council conclusions on the issue of ecodesign. We are committed to a coherent overall strategy for the EU for the protection of intellectual property in order to promote the protection of innovation and fair access rights as well as with a view to promoting creativity.

With respect to the implementation of the EU strategy for the digital age, we want to place a focus on strengthening the digital inclusion of citizens, on ensuring decent working conditions and social security in the context of the future of work – including in new forms of employment such as platform-based work – as well as on providing skills and competencies for the digital age. We want to discuss the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan in the Council also with respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector and intend, while upholding the principle of subsidiarity, to adopt Council conclusions on this issue.

Enhancing competitiveness

The EU’s unified economic area without internal borders is the bedrock of our prosperity, social security and cohesion. We want to continue to develop the single market for key areas of the future – without losing sight of priorities to date – and are committed in this regard to the effective implementation and enforcement of the single market rules as well as to the elimination of remaining unjustifiable barriers in the single market. We are committed to an efficient, innovation-friendly and future-proof regulatory framework. We want to expand evidence-based legislation, further strengthen regulatory impact assessments, extend the use of experimentation clauses as well as living labs and work to ensure the effective implementation of the one-in, one-out rule.

A competitive European industrial sector and vibrant small and medium-sized enterprises are essential for mastering the digital and environmental transformation. Against this backdrop, we want to continue to develop the European Commission’s industrial and SME strategy in a forward-looking manner with the objective of strengthening European cooperation in innovative key technologies in particular. Within the framework of Council conclusions, we want to inject impetus into strengthening the competitiveness of both European industry and small and medium-sized businesses. We are, to this end, discussing suitable framework conditions and the promotion of forward-looking innovations, as well as measures relating to financing, a substantial reduction in red tape and SME-friendly regulations. At an SME conference in November, we intend, among other issues, to discuss cross-border approaches to strengthening entrepreneurship, the digital transformation and innovation.

During our Council Presidency, we intend to work to modernise European state aid legislation to ensure a level playing field and to support the implementation of the European Green Deal. State aid and cooperative projects supporting the creation of infrastructures such as broadband and mobile phone networks as well as the implementation of climate protection measures should be facilitated under simplified conditions. Moreover, we intend to put in place measures to avoid carbon leakage to third countries, to support regions affected by the phasing out of coal-based power and the economy as a whole, as well as to review the state aid regulations applying to environmental and energy subsidies. In the area of competition law, we are committed to ensuring that, in the area of merger control proceedings, the situation with regard to global competition is kept in mind and that companies are afforded greater legal certainty for cooperative partnerships. The supervision of abuses in the area of competition law should be further developed with a view to platform markets.

We are committed to a forward-looking EU structural policy that strengthens European regions’ competitiveness and resilience to crises. Our focus is on innovative economic change, climate and environmental protection and safeguarding sustainable employment. We want, as far as possible, to conclude the trialogue negotiations on the new legislative package of the EU Structural Funds. Sustainable structural change in the regions and investments in digitalisation, artificial intelligence, innovative technologies and human capital are a major priority.

Knowledge, research and education are important drivers of European innovation and competitiveness and are also key to the successful implementation of the European Green Deal. With regard to the further development of the European Research Area, we want to launch initiatives on green hydrogen, Europe’s resilience to pandemics, civic participation and enhanced international cooperation.

The EU must approach the mobility of the future in a sustainable, innovative and interconnected manner. We must, in this context, address the environmental challenges of our age while safeguarding the competitiveness of the European transport sector. Furthermore, we want to analyse the impact of the pandemic on our transport infrastructures as well as their resilience to crises in order to strengthen the European transport sector as well as efficient logistics chains. Moreover, we would like in the Council to provide guidance for the EU Strategy on Sustainable and Smart Mobility announced by the European Commission. We will also press ahead with negotiations on legislative projects in specific transport sectors.

A sustainable financial market architecture, stable financial policy and fair taxation

Business activities and company structures have changed dramatically as a result of the digital transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic is posing additional challenges. Europe’s tax policy must be modern and innovative in order to continue to promote Europe’s economic strength and safeguard Member States’ tax revenues.

The tax burden must be distributed fairly and transparently to this end. The OECD is currently drafting reform proposals that are intended to address in an effective manner the tax challenges arising from the digital transformation and which comprise the introduction of a minimum global effective tax rate. Following the conclusion of negotiations, we want to press ahead with implementing the results in the EU. We are also committed to the introduction of a financial transaction tax at European level. The increasing mobility of citizens, businesses and wealth requires Member States’ tax authorities to work together in order to simplify taxation. It is with this in mind that we want to revise the directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. One of the aims behind this is to tackle tax evasion in an effective manner. We will also step up efforts to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

In the current crisis situation, measures to contain the pandemic as well as to restore the full functioning of Europe’s societies and economies are rightly the focus of our attentions. As soon as the economic conditions permit this, the budget policy in the Member States should be geared once again to the medium-term achievement of forward-looking budgets as this is key to the stability, resilience and growth prospects of the economic and monetary union. In reviewing the Stability and Growth Pact, the primary focus should therefore be on the viability of public finances with a view to ensuring the required room for manoeuvre in crisis situations.

We want to deepen the capital market union in order to promote capital market-based financing and to further integrate the European capital market and make it more competitive at the international level. The aim here is to improve financing of the real economy as well as strategic investments. We support the continued development of the banking union in order to increase the stability of the financial system and to strengthen the European single market.

The advancing digitalisation of the financial services sector offers opportunities for new business models, products and providers. However, this is bound up with risks and is leading to profound changes in the market, thus rendering regulatory adjustments necessary. With the creation of a digital financial market union, we want to dismantle existing barriers to cross-border digital financial services in order to remain competitive internationally. We want to support the work in the context of the digital finance strategy announced by the Commission as well as the regulatory proposals on such areas as krypto assets in order to help strengthen the sovereignty of Europe’s financial market.