#PowerUpEurope: German industry’s digital policy priorities for the new EU Commission

POSITION | EU POLICY | DIGITALISATION

German industry’s digital policy priorities for the new EU Commission #PowerUpEurope: Competitiveness through digitalisation

6. August 2024 In the last legislative term, the von der Leyen Commission has developed an extensive set of legislative acts to govern the digital sector, including the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the Data Act, the Chips Act, the amended cybersecurity directive NIS2, the Cyber Resilience Act, the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Data Governance Act, the Gigabit Infrastructure Act, the 5G Toolbox and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This regulatory framework has far-reaching implications for business processes and the development of new digital business models. Many of the legislative acts listed above have only been adopted recently or are still in the comitology process. In order to make this ambitious regulatory framework a European success story, a lean, EU-wide uniform implementation – that learns from past mistakes – is needed. German industry supports Ursula von der Leyen’s ambition to enhance Europe’s competitiveness. German industry is convinced that to boost prosperity and competitiveness while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the potential of digital technologies must be leveraged. To this end, we strongly believe that the next European Commissioners responsible for digital must: ▪

prioritise implementation of Europe’s digital legislation

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enable companies to exploit the untapped potential of the data economy

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favour the development and utilisation of Artificial Intelligence

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ensure Europe has a resilient, high-performing and sustainable digital infrastructure

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contribute to an EU-wide harmonized implementation of cybersecurity regulations

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invest in key technologies, such as microelectronics, AI and quantum computing

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address and structurally tackle the increasing need for a diverse IT workforce

We urge the new European Commissioners responsible for all digital dossiers to always check whether new initiatives contribute to strengthening Europe’s competitiveness while promoting the uptake of digital solutions and infrastructures. To remain on par with global competitors, such as the USA and China, the EU must step up its investments in key and future digital technologies. Therefore, we strongly encourage the Member States and the European Commission to dedicate more money in the upcoming multi-annual budget to digital technologies and infrastructures. Moreover, we would appreciate if the European Commission was to integrate funding programmes and digital policy regulation more closely than in the past.

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