A coalition of governments from Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania add to the growing chorus of voices seeking to shape the agenda of the next Commission
EU Governments jointly publish a call to action
On 21 May 2024, four EU Member States published a paper entitled “Make it Simple: Our blueprint for a more innovative Europe”, outlining a number of recommendations for the focus of the next set of European Commissioners over the 2024-2029 period. The Governments of Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania – referring to themselves as the “Innovation Club” – state that the EU is at a critical juncture, with its economy increasingly impacted by emerging technologies, including generative AI. The group notes that legislation has been adopted in recent years to create a comprehensive European legal framework to underpin the region’s digital transformation. In the coming years, it considers that effective and efficient implementation of this framework must be prioritised in order to foster an innovation-, investment- and competition-friendly environment, while minimising burdens and costs for businesses (especially startups and SMEs).
Four recommendations for the bloc’s future digital agenda
The Innovation Club has set out a roadmap, based on four pillars, that aims to enable Europe to take advantage of the transformative potential of technology while helping to establish a true Digital Single Market:
Reduce the regulatory burden to boost Europe’s global competitiveness and ability to innovate, while maintaining high standards of consumer protection;
Ensure high-class digital infrastructure, including resilient subsea cable networks, from which all European citizens can benefit, upholding net neutrality and supporting investment in 5G and gigabit-capable broadband;
Advance Europe on its path to a data economy underpinned by transparency, security and trust, making the use and reuse of personal, non-personal, public and private data more common; and
Harness standardisation at the international level to drive competitiveness of EU industries (i.e. manufacturers, network operators, service providers), while reflecting the principles of democracy and human rights.
Many stakeholders are looking to steer the policy direction, making for a noisy conversation around the priorities of the next Commission
Volker Wissing (Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Germany) has stated that the blueprint was initiated following his 2023 visit to the Baltic states, which sought to bring like-minded Member States together with a large partner like Germany. According to Wissing, the Innovation Club is open to cooperation with other Member States to add weight to its arguments. While the group’s recommendations do not cover the full range of digital policy issues debated in recent weeks, there is some overlap with the conclusions recently drawn by the EU’s telecoms ministers – particularly about implementation of acts to strengthen the Digital Single Market. The blueprint adds to the number of voices seeking to shape the thinking of the next Commission, including former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, whose report sets out a vision for industries such as energy, finance and telecoms. It also anticipates a potentially influential report from Mario Draghi – another former Italian Prime Minister – specifically about the state of Europe’s competitiveness and the reforms needed for the region to keep pace with China and the US. EU elections will take place between 6-9 June 2024, with a new cohort of Commissioners taking up their posts in November.
