DIGITAL ECONOMY AND SOCIETY INDEX 2021

On 12 November 2021 the European Commission published the results of the 2021 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). DESI tracks the progress made in the EU Member States in the areas of human capital, broadband connectivity, the integration of digital technologies by businesses and digital public services.

The overall conclusion is that all the EU Member States made progress in the area of digitalisation but the gap between the EU's frontrunners and those with the lowest DESI scores remains large.

Main findings of DESI 2021 in the four areas

With regard to digital skills, 56% of individuals in the EU have at least basic digital skills. As for connectivity, only 59% of households can benefit from fixed very high capacity network (VHCN) connectivity with the potential of offering gigabit connectivity. Rural VHCN also improved – from 22% in 2019 to 28% in 2020 – but a large gap between rural and national figures remains. With regard to integration of digital technology, only 60% of SMEs have adopted digital technologies and as it comes to digital public services - 64% of internet users interacted with public administration online.

The press release can be found here.
Questions and Answers: Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2021 can be found here.

 

DIGITAL EUROPE PROGRAMME

On 10 November 2021 the European Commission adopted three documents for the Digital Europe Programme. The Digital Europe Programme will be implemented by means of four independent Work Programmes (WPs)  in the first two years of implementation.

Next steps: The first calls for the Digital Europe Programme will be published by the end of November.

Digital Europe Work Programme 2021-2022

The main WP covers activities in Data, AI, Cloud, Quantum Communication Infrastructure, advanced digital skills and deployment activities for the best use of there technologies.

The global budgetary envelope reserved for grants under the WP is 834.5 million EUR. The topics included in this WP, which are implemented by grants, will be called according to a plan. In addition to the calls for proposals, a set of actions will be implemented by procurement either using Framework contacts or open calls for tenders.

Digital Europe - EDIH Work Programmes 2021-2023

The actions in this WP focus on the creation of a network of "European Digital Innovation Hubs" (EDIH) which aims to cover all regions of the EU and the Associated countries. The non-profit objective is to support on a large scale the digital transformation of the companies, especially the SMEs and the small mid-caps (an undertaking that is not an SME and whose number of employees does not exceed 499), and the public sector organizations conducting non-economic activities. EDIHs provide services such as testing before investing, training and skills development, support to find investments, networking and access to innovation ecosystem.

Digital Europe - Cybersecurity Work Programme 2021-2022

In the first two years of the implementation of the Cybersecurity WP, the actions for cybersecurity and trust will aim to support the development of the cybersecurity infrastructure and to strengthen the cybersecurity uptake. Moreover, the actions will support the implementation of the relevant EU legislation: the Cybersecurity Strategy, the NIS Directive, the Cybersecurity act and the 5G cybersecurity toolbox.

The participation is open to the public sector and the private sector organizations including SMEs and NGOs.

More information

The press release can be found here.
The WPs can be downloaded from here.

 

MERGERS: ACQUISITION OF OPEN FIBER

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of joint control of Open Fiber S.p.A. by CDP Equity S.p.A., both of Italy, and Macquarie Group Limited of Australia.

Open Fiber, currently jointly controlled by CDP Equity and Enel S.p.A., is a wholesale-only operator developing, managing and maintaining an optical fibre network in Italy. CDP Equity is a long-term investor in companies of significant national Italian interest, solely controlled by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (‘CDP') which, in turn, is solely controlled by the Italian State. CDP is also a minority shareholder and a board member in Telecom Italia S.p.A. (‘TIM'), the Italian telecommunications incumbent. Macquarie is a multinational investment bank that manages, among others, funds investing in infrastructure and other real assets.

The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns given the absence of horizontal overlaps or vertical relationships between the activities of Macquarie (including its portfolio companies) and Open Fiber.

More information about the case can be found here.

 

AUTUMN 2021 ECONOMIC FORECAST

The European Commission published the Autumn 2021 Economic Forecast which shows that the European economy returns to an expansionary path faster than expected.

However, the growth faces new challenges such as bottlenecks and disruptions in global supply. The accelerated digitalisation of the economy, induced by the pandemic, triggered an unprecedented surge in demand for computers and electronic products, for which demand had already increased due to important technological advancements, including 5G technology.

According to the report, it remains uncertain how quickly bottlenecks will be resolved, and the time needed for supply to fully adjust to demand is expected to vary across sectors.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps:

The European Commission's Winter Economic Forecast 2022 is expected to be presented in February 2022.

 

RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE FACILITY

The Council of the European Union published Council conclusions on the future of the European Semester in the context of the Recovery and Resilience facility.

The press release can be found here.

 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PLENARY SESSION

The European Parliament was in a Plenary session this week.

Information on the discussed topics on 10 and 11 November can be found here and here.

Next week: European Parliament Committee meetings.