Europaudvalget 2020-21
EUU Alm.del Bilag 345
Offentligt
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Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn
1 March 2021
Madam President, dear Ursula,
Digital transformation is vital for European recovery, for the prosperity, security,
competitiveness and the well-being of our societies. We have joined forces in Europe
during the last months to facilitate swift extensive additional investments in digital
projects via the Recovery and Resilience Facility, to strengthen cooperation across
the digital sphere and to start discussions on a common approach in fields such as
data, artificial intelligence and platform regulation.
At the same time, the dependencies and shortcomings in European digital capacities,
skills and technologies have become more apparent. A significant amount of digital
value-added and innovation takes place outside Europe. Data has become a new
currency which is mainly collected and stored outside Europe. And fundamental
democratic values are under severe pressure in the global digital sphere.
Now is the time for Europe to be digitally sovereign. We have to foster the Digital
Single Market in all its dimensions where innovation can thrive and data flow freely.
We need to effectively safeguard competition and market access in a data-driven
world. Critical infrastructures and technologies need to become resilient and secure.
It is time for digitisation of governments in order to build trust and foster digital
innovation.
We want to develop our capacities and competences in areas where we want to be
more self-determined with democratic partners around the world and building on a
strong transatlantic relationship. At the same time, we want to strengthen and further
develop mutual cooperation and synergies. Digital sovereignty is about building on
our strengths and reducing our strategic weaknesses, not about excluding others or
taking a protectionist approach. We are part of a global world with global supply
chains that we want to develop in the interests of us all. We are committed to open
markets and to free, fair and rules-based trade. This is what digital sovereignty
means to us.
We call for the European Union to get ahead of the curve in the digital
transformation, as outlined by the European Council in October 2020. We believe
that Europe needs to recharge and complement its current digitisation efforts with a
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 EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 345: Fællesbrev fra Tyskland, Danmark, Finland og Estland til Kommissionens formand vedr. en åben digital politik med digital suverænitet som rettesnor
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self-determined and open digital policy which includes digital sovereignty as leitmotif.
Such a digital policy encompasses the interests of society, the economy and
government in equal parts, and supports us in the green transition.
We therefore ask the European Commission to take the necessary initiatives to
strengthen the European Union’s digital sovereignty.
We believe that three steps
must be taken:
As a first step, the European Commission needs to identify systems of critical
technologies and strategic sectors. We need clarity on where Europe’s
strengths
are
and where there may be strategic weaknesses and high-risk dependencies which
could lead to supply shortages or cybersecurity risks. It will be key to follow a
thorough assessment taking into account global challenges, safety and security
implications, scarcity of resources as well as market structures.
This process must be transparent, in order to secure the trust of citizens and
businesses, with the long term perspective in mind, as the digital transformation
could make new fields critical for our societies, economies, security and citizens,
while reducing the significance of others. These should also be guiding principles of
the European
Commission’s proposal on a digital decade with targets for 2030 and a
monitoring system, as asked for by the European Council in October 2020.
In a second step, the European Union must strengthen and refine its policy approach
for systems of critical technologies and strategic sectors: In order to avoid
dependencies, open markets and open supply chains shall be ensured. If this is not
possible, then mutual interdependencies shall be established (i.e. no one-sided
dependencies on monopolies or countries). As a last resort, European competences
and capabilities shall be actively promoted and expanded.
Accordingly, the policy toolbox for digital transformation, both at EU and at national
level, shall comprise differentiated policy actions for different areas: Building on our
Single Market in all dimensions (health, energy, transport etc.) will be key. We need
to take advantage of the entire toolbox and integrate instruments from industrial,
trade and competition policy, research and innovation policy, long-term funding
instruments, and Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI). We need
to enhance the Digital Single Market to make scale-up easier, promote innovation
and attract investment. We need to boost skills and competences throughout society,
with a special focus on strategic sectors. In addition, digitisation of the government
itself must be an important driver of innovation, as it also plays an important role in
generating enablers, frameworks and trust for testing, take-up and diffusion.
To this end, the Commission should come forward with proposals for new initiatives
as well as strengthening ongoing initiatives. We need solid framework conditions that
foster an innovative, responsible and safe digital economy, including an EU-wide
ecosystem for digital identities, a legislative framework for artificial intelligence,
excellence in quantum computing, EU-based distributed data cloud solutions and a
European approach to foster communication network virtualisation and new
technologies (openRAN). And we call for a new global initiative on platform
regulation, building on current discussion on the Digital Services Act and the Digital
Markets Act in the EU.
The European Commission should develop an action plan for greater digital
sovereignty on this basis, ideally as part of its initiative announced for March 2021 on
Europe’s Digital Decade. In order to ensure that critical dependencies do not become
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 EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 345: Fællesbrev fra Tyskland, Danmark, Finland og Estland til Kommissionens formand vedr. en åben digital politik med digital suverænitet som rettesnor
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entrenched, a set of immediate measures should be defined in this plan to enable the
European Union to become digitally sovereign in critical areas.
In a third step, the rapid momentum in the digital world means that the EU needs a
monitoring system. The monitoring shall be permanent, recurrent and built on a wide
societal, scientific and economic basis. It shall enable us to anticipate digital
developments, identify our shortcomings and strengths and define concrete
measures and instruments accordingly. The monitoring shall aim to facilitate
innovation and development to ensure that Europe remains sovereign, secure and
competitive and a leader in developing digital technology.
Digital transformation is one of the greatest opportunities and challenges for
Europe’s
future, and it must be of help to people, our societies and our economy.
As Europeans, we aspire to continue asserting our democratic values and rules in
the digital era at home and abroad. At the same time, we want to participate in digital
value-added, thus safeguarding future prosperity in the European Union and moving
our societies into the digital age. This can only be achieved if we follow a coherent
path towards digital sovereignty
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self-determined and open.
We call on you to put the weight of the European Commission behind this joint
endeavour.
Yours sincerely,
Angela Merkel
Chancellor
of the Federal Republic of Germany
Mette Frederiksen
Prime Minister
of the Kingdom of Denmark
Sanna Marin
Prime Minister
of the Republic of Finland
Kaja Kallas
Prime Minister
of the Republic of Estonia