How should Europe and the US best cooperate on digital issues? This is a question that will be discussed when ministers from Sweden and other “Digital Frontrunners” - the so-called D9+ countries - gather in Prague next week.
The transatlantic relationship is, and will continue to be, extremely important. Europe and the US share similar values and are therefore well placed to work together in addressing shared challenges such as climate, health and economic resilience. The continuing war in Ukraine also demonstrates the need to work alongside like-minded countries to address the current and future cybersecurity and infrastructure security challenges. Greater connectivity and trusted digital and data innovation offer an opportunity to address these shared challenges.
The D9+ countries have an important role to play in driving these issues forward by, for example, identifying gaps and opportunities for beneficial transatlantic cooperation. In addition, the D9+ countries can also contribute through influencing and increasing engagement with the EU and other relevant actors via influential platforms such as the OECD, WTO and even the UN.
There are issues in terms of improving transatlantic cooperation on digital issues. One of the most pressing of these for business is the data flow issue, and the need to establish a new mechanism for enabling legally secure data transfers between the EU and the US. Today’s preliminary deal to unlock transatlantic data flows is an important step forward!
Access to good connectivity and digital tools has been key in saving many businesses during the pandemic. However, what will be important going forward is how we genuinely and broadly deploy the use of data, AI and robotisation to address our common challenges. The technologies required are costly and often fraught with risk, not least in terms of the legal uncertainty surrounding them and concerns over potential legislation.
In the EU, intensive work is already underway to develop new legislative proposals in the digital area. Technological developments clearly require new or updated rules, but it is important that these are not simply restrictive, but also encourage investment and innovation by businesses. It is also important that these files hit the right notes in terms of the overall third-country relationship with the US. Fully harmonised legislation is difficult to achieve, but it should be compatible to as great an extent as possible.
Common norms and standards related to new technologies are also required. Here, the EU has its own important homework to do, in order to ‘set the standard’ with the US in new technology areas of strategic importance. The problem is that there are major delays in the European standardisation system, which make it difficult for European standards (and hence legislation) to keep pace with the latest technological developments. This also limits the technical convergence between European and international standards. We are concerned that the European Commission wants to act ahead of the market in several areas (in particular, in areas relating to green technology development) and is even taking increasing initiative for developing technical specifications. We do not face the same problem with market-driven standards, which generally develop faster and are more conducive to innovation.
In addition to the above, and together with our sister organisations from the various D9+ countries, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise has produced the following joint letter with a series of recommendations for transatlantic cooperation.
D9+ is a ministerial group of digitally advanced EU countries that aims to promote the implementation and use of digitalisation and the sharing of its best practices. The group includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Estonia.