Is the Europe 2020 strategy jinxed?

In the article EU action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs I mentioned the information note from the Danish Council presidency:

European Council - Follow-up by the Council; Brussels, 19 March 2012 (document 7824/12)

The content is described on the front page:

In order to ensure that the General Affairs Council can fully play its general coordinating role as well as its specific role in ensuring the follow-up to European Council meetings, the Presidency has prepared the attached information note. The note outlines steps taken in implementation of the orientations agreed by the European Council at its meetings of December 2011 and March 2012, as well as at in the declaration of the Heads of State and Government of 30 January 2012. This note also sets out how these orientations will be taken forward by the Presidency within the Council until the end of the Presidency period, notwithstanding upcoming discussions to be held in Coreper and Council in respect to the orientations set out by the March 2012 European Council, in particular as regards paragraph 16 of its conclusions.

Peer pressure

So what did paragraph 16 of the conclusions of the spring (March) 2012 European Council say? The EUCO conclusions are available in all 23 official EU languages; here the English text, under Economic policy, which highlights some aspects of single market reform and compliance (although the single market has been mentioned in these and other conclusions as well):

16. The European Council considers that enhanced "peer pressure" can help raise the ownership and responsibility at the level of Heads of State or Government as regards the Council's and individual Member States' role in developing the Single Market and complying with its rules. To this effect, the European Council invites :
− the Commission to provide transparent scoreboards as a basis for appropriate benchmarking;
− the President of the European Council to promote regular monitoring by the European Council of progress achieved on key Single Market proposals in the various Council formations.

Follow-up note

The follow-up note deals with the growth agenda, including:

* the single market, Single Market Act,
* acces to finance for SMEs, the COSME programme,
* the forthcoming employment package,
* the reduction of the administrative and regulatory burden,
* innovation and Horizon 2020,
* the digital single market,
* the internal energy market


Under Economic policy, the following themes were among those mentioned:

* the next steps within the European Semester leading to recommendations on the National Reform Programmes and the Stability or Convergence Programmes of the member states as well as the prevention of macroeconomic imbalances revealed by the Alert Mechanism Report,
* the regulation of financial services,
* the two-pack proposals on euro area surveillance,
* the contribution of taxation to fiscal consolidation and growth,
* piloting European project bonds

Additional themes were the long term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework MFF), Justice and Home Affairs (including Schengen enlargement and governance, the Common European Asylum System), Climate (low-carbon 2050 strategy), Trade and Enlargement.


Jinxed Europe 2020?

Only a few weeks ago the spring European Council reminded itself and others that:

2. "Europe 2020" is Europe's strategy for jobs and growth and its comprehensive response to the challenges it is facing. In particular, the five targets set out for 2020 remain fully relevant and will continue to guide the action of Member States and the Union to promote employment; improve the conditions for innovation, research and development; meet our climate change and energy objectives; improve education levels and promote social inclusion in particular through the reduction of poverty.

However, yet again we see a paper from one or more member states skillfully evading the main EU2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, despite dealing with certain concrete aspects of it.

It looks improbable that an EUCO president or EU member state can – in good faith - write an eight-page issues paper or equally long information note [edited] about the EU's growth agenda and economic policy, or the five pages of a twelve-country plan for growth in Europe without mentioning the Europe 2020 strategy.

Is EU2020 jinxed, or what?

Europe 2020 is supposed to be the main uniting economic reform strategy for all levels of government in the European Union and its member states, as the heads of states or government reiterated at the beginning of this month.

Have we ever seen or heard an intelligent explanation from the governments of the EU member states, or have the EU members shown us a diagnosis of amnesia?



General Affairs Council

Monday, 26 March 2012, the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) meets to discuss two main items, of which the second one is: Follow-up to the European Council 1-2 March 2012 (agenda).

In this respect, the background note for the GAC meeting offers practically nothing in addition to the presidency note 7824/12:

Follow-up to the [December] European Council

The Council will take stock of the follow-up to be given to the European Council meeting held on 1-2 March, on the basis of a presidency note (7824/12).

The meeting focus[ed] in particular on the growth agenda and on economic policy.

The follow-up discussion is not public, so if the General Affairs Council does not make drastic improvements to its conclusions, the presidency note is probably the best thing the public is left with regarding growth and economic policy for a while.



Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs

P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 944 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. Erkan's Field Diary is more than a Turkish delight. The anthropologist, Dr Erkan Saka follows and links to global, European and Turkish politics and events, not forgetting human rights, cyberculture and social media. Some of the posts are in English. Recommended reading.

Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my currently active blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.

EU leaders: ”Oops, we forgot our strategy”

In its conclusions, the European Council suddenly remembered that it already has a comprehensive strategy for growth, competitiveness and employment: Europe 2020 (EU2020). The heads of state or government need to breathe life into their common strategy, because they frankly admit that their efforts to date are insufficient.


Amnesia

I strongly recommend president Herman Van Rompuy's strategic and elegant Issues Paper, written ahead of the spring European Council, but for some inexplicable reason he evaded the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020).

The twelve prime ministers who wrote A plan for growth in Europe, calling for more resolute reform policies, as resolutely forgot to mention that the EU already has the EU2020 strategy.


EU2020 resurrected

It took the reply from Commission president José Manuel Barroso to remind these leaders of the existing strategy for this decade:

We have agreed on an ambitious and comprehensive growth and jobs strategy: Europe 2020. Our common ownership of it needs to be more visible to our citizens. They need to know that the EU has a clear strategy for building a better future and that all Member States are working in the same direction. There should be no artificial separation between EU and national growth policies, they reinforce each other.

The conclusions of the European Council (EUCO 4/12) then turned into a strong reminder of the crucial role of the Europe 2020 strategy and of the need to step up efforts significantly:

2. "Europe 2020" is Europe's strategy for jobs and growth and its comprehensive response to the challenges it is facing. In particular, the five targets set out for 2020 remain fully relevant and will continue to guide the action of Member States and the Union to promote employment; improve the conditions for innovation, research and development; meet our climate change and energy objectives; improve education levels and promote social inclusion in particular through the reduction of poverty.

3. However, efforts undertaken to date remain insufficient to meet most of these targets. It is therefore urgent to concentrate on the implementation of reforms, with a particular attention to measures which have a short-term effect on jobs and growth.

Much better. But why did it happen? How credible does the commitment look, when all these reform-minded leaders were happy to forget even the existence of EU2020, their common strategy for a decade of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth?

Will they still remember, having returned home?

Our reading tip for them and their officials is: Progress Report on the Europe 2020 Strategy COM(2011) 815 Annex I.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law

P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?

Breathing life into EU2020 necessary for growth, competitiveness and employment

After the European Council (EUCO) summary we noted a few key points in the intergovernmental Treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the economic and monetary union (TSCG, ”fiscal compact”) before discussing that the national leaders condemned themselves to achieve economic growth, enhanced competitiveness and new jobs within tighter budget limits, practically without money.

With growth stalling, Europe's competitiveness seriously eroded and unemployment rising, more than cheerful rhetoric is going to be needed to turn the tide.

What do the heads of state or government propose to do?

We turn to the three remaining cornerstones in European Council 1-2 March 2012 conclusions (EUCO 4/12, available in 23 languages) to take a look at this Houdini act.


Europe 2020

The political leaders remind themselves and others that the European Union has a comprehensive long term strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, Europe 2020 (EU2020):

2. "Europe 2020" is Europe's strategy for jobs and growth and its comprehensive response to the challenges it is facing. In particular, the five targets set out for 2020 remain fully relevant and will continue to guide the action of Member States and the Union to promote employment; improve the conditions for innovation, research and development; meet our climate change and energy objectives; improve education levels and promote social inclusion in particular through the reduction of poverty.

Europe 2020 involves the member state in reform work at EU level with regard to the seven flagship initiatives. The institutions of the European Union and the governments of the member states have jointly agreed on common EU2020 targets. Many of the concrete structural, growth-enhancing reforms need to be carried out in and by the EU member states, by state, regional and local actors, social partners and enterprises. The structural reforms at EU and national level are intended to create synergy effects. The five headline targets have been translated into national targets, which take account of the different situations.

By mid-April (the end of April, at the latest) each EU member state sets out its actions in its national reform programme 2012 (NRP). The European Commission analyses every NRP, as well as the stability or convergence programme of every member state, and issues recommendations.

In the summer, the European Council and the Council (of ministers) are going to conclude the planning circle known as the European Semester by addressing recommendations to all the member states.


Divine inspiration?

There are worrying signs that Europe is sliding more than rising. The loss of international competitiveness and export shares in world markets are root causes of this decline, almost across the board.

Difficult but decisive reforms are needed, but rarely do we see signs of lively national debates centred on the Europe 2020 as a dynamic key to reform policies. Preparing mandatory programmes in the recesses of national ministries of economy, perhaps concerting with the main social partners, leads to paper programmes devoid of life.

The heads of state or government have given themselves a reminder of EU2020, but having returned home from the spring European Council, they have to breathe life into the Europe 2020 strategy process domestically.

They failed during the Lisbon strategy decade, and their EU2020 start has been disappointing, with the results we can see around us.

Especially in the member states lagging behind, divine inspiration looks necessary, but failing that the prime ministers and presidents have to make the Europe 2020 strategy a success in their own countries.

The Europe 2020 reforms concern almost all ministries and levels of government and the social partners, but also individual businesses and citizens. The media need to be woken up, if they don't notice themselves.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law

P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?

European digital agendas: Wallonia in Belgium

Economic growth is the magic concept to survive and to rebound from the economic crisis. The Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) and its seven flagship initiatives are intended to bring us smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The Digital Agenda for Europe is the information society or ICT strategy, which bundles 101 actions under eight pillars (themes), but they cannot be achieved by the EU Commission alone. The member states are involved in setting policy guidelines, legislation and follow-up. Many actions depend on what the member states achieve domestically.

Thus, we face the question if there are national digital agendas in line with the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Yesterday we glimpsed at Belgium and found the Flanders in Action Pact 2020 (ViA), but I did not yet stumble across a specific digital agenda.


Wallonia

Now we turn to the French-speaking region of Wallonia, where we find the broad initiative Creative Wallonia: Introduction, Trois axes and Documents. The two main documents are the framework programme and the preparatory study:

Programme-cadre Creative Wallonia (undated; 72 pages)

Le rapport de la commission Zénobe (downloadable here; 2009; 111 pages)

The substance covers wide areas of the EU2020 strategy.


Wallonia's ICT strategy

Within this context, more specifically ICT oriented is:

Master Plan TIC (dowloadable here; 16 June 2011; 92 pages)

You can find aa Executive Summary in French, as well as in Dutch, German and English: Executive Summary – ICT Master Plan (downloadable here; 6 pages)

After presenting main ICT trends, the summary offers a roadmap with ten strategic priorities and six major issues briefly outlined.

Finally, there is the Baromètre TIC 2011 – L'usage de technologies de l'Information et de la Communication en Wallonie, with hard facts about ICT usage in the reagion, as well as recommendations by the Agence Wallonne des Télécommunications (AWT) for the future (26 pages).

***

If you have updated information about a Flemish digital agenda, or about the central government of Belgium, I am grateful for information. You can comment on this blog post or send me an email. Updates about other national (regional) ICT strategies in the European Union and the European Economic Area are also welcome.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU digital policy and law

P.S. 1: For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union shapes our digital future and online freedoms. More than 900 euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?

P.S. 2: The @Avaaz petition for the European Parliament (and the national parliaments) to reject #ACTA has already been signed by 2,315,016 netizens, but more are welcome until the anti-piracy treaty has been officially buried.

European digital agendas: Flanders in Belgium

Last autumn I discussed the Digital Agenda for Europe, and I asked readers for information about corresponding information and communication (ICT) policy strategies at national level in the member states of the European Union (especially in English or other widely understood languages).

The response has not amounted to much yet, so I return to the national digital agendas on the basis of what I happen to find.


Belgium - Flanders

In highly decentralised Belgium, I came across the Flanders region, which has a Flanders in Action Pact 2020 (ViA), built along the lines of the lines of the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020).

In English you can find links to the seven breakthrough actions. A good way to start may be the background page About ViA, with the following description of the Pact 2020 initiative:

The plan consists of twenty objectives that are sharply and quantifiably delineated, plus five breakthrough actions in areas where Flanders has already achieved a model presence but where, tomorrow, it can truly make a major difference.

The page contains links to three publications with more information:

Action for 2020! The future plan for Flanders in progress (August 2011 brochure)

Flanders in action – I'm all for it (June 2010 folder with further links)

Flanders outlook 2011 – A benchmarking of Flanders amongst the European regions (February 2011)

My cursory search did not reveal a specific digital agenda. The thematic page most closely related to the EU Digital Agenda seems to be Innovation centre Flanders, with a brief introduction. The Dutch page Innovatiecentrum Vlaanderen offers more information, as well as links to research and development (R&D) issues, more closely related to the flagship initiative Innovation Union and the R&D programmes of the EU.

The general ViA brochure in Dutch has about twice the volume of its English counterpart, but I found no specific digital agenda there either:

Actie voor 2020! Het toekomstplan voor Vlaanderen in uitvoering (January 2011)

***

If you have information about a planned or finished Flemish digital agenda, or about the central government or the other regions of Belgium, I am grateful for information. You can comment on this blog post or send me an email. Updates about other ICT (information society) strategies are also welcome.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU digital policy and law

P.S. For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union shapes our digital future and online freedoms. More than 900 euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?

Growth and jobs: Denmark's EU Council presidency

Prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the rest of the Danish government presented the presidency programme Friday:

Europe at work: Programme of the Danish Presidency of the European Union 2012, 1 January to 30 June 2012 (61 pages)

The programme is available in Danish, French and German as well through the presidency web pages.


Priorities

The government of Denmark offers four wide headings as its priorities for the first six months of 2012:

* A responsible Europe
* A dynamic Europe
* A green Europe
* A safe Europe

The introduction presents the themes in a nutshell (pages 4-6), with more detail added for each of them in the general part of the programme (pages 7-22).

I already commented in Swedish (Grahnblawg) on A responsible Europe facing the financial and economic crises in the euro area.

After the macroeconomic section, in this blog post I turn to the second prioroity A dynamic Europe, on pages 10-14.


A dynamic Europe

The catchwords are growth and jobs, and the means include revitalising the single market (the Single Market Act). The reform of the European patent system is mentioned as a concrete measure. A digital single market requires a number of actions.

The Danish government underlines the social dimension(s) of the single market. Simplified rules for public procurement, effective standardisation, as well as better framework conditions for companies and consumers are outlined, together with an internal market for energy.

The next generation of EU programmes for education, research and innovation is treated under the headline A competitive single market for knowledge, which includes the programme Horizon 2020.

Social aspects regarding mobile workers and eHealth have already brought some Danish nuances to the fore, and the same can be seen in relation to the subheading Sustainable growth and development throughout the EU, which gravitates around cohesion policy as an important part of the next long term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework).

The programme takes account of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (2012), discussing the health of older people as well as their participation in the labour market. Gender equality and labour market flexibility can be seen as Danish highlights.

Denmark wants to see fewer boys dropping out of school and more young women enrolling in education programmes in growth areas. Legal immigration of qualified labour is seen as essential for the future, as is freer movement for services and workers within the EU.

The programme aims at promoting external trade with the EU neighbourhood and other countries.


Comments

The Danish presidency programme is very much in line with the purposes of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (although the EU2020 strategy is explicitly named just a few times).

Most Council presidencies have mentioned knowledge, social aspects, labour market flexibility, gender equality, sustainable growth etc., but my feeling is that these are among the areas where the government of Denmark wants to export some of its ideas, solutions and experiences to the European Union as a whole.

Denmark's combination of competitiveness, equality and functioning institutions make it one of the success stories in the light of international comparisons, so most EU countries could profit.

All in all, despite some emphasis with country colouring, the Danish presidency programme gives the impression of being quite mainstream: an honest broker diligently carrying the torch for a period of six months.


Media

Perhaps the next priority, A green Europe, goes a bit beyond that, as the Espacio de Ideas blog by Pau Solanilla comments (in Spanish).

The CTA Brussels Office Blog has reported briefly on the priorities and the Open Europe blog has compared the (slim) presidency budget with others.

On the European Voice, Simon Taylor offered some background to the Danish EU Council presidency: a country outside the eurozone and a government from the left.

If we believe that ”no news is good news”, we can conclude that the Danish presidency has caused few ripples in media dedicated to European affairs. Perhaps Danish design evokes sinister plots much less than it does sleek form and function.



Ralf Grahn

EU2020 stands for 20 missing languages

What does the Commission's Europe 2020 web page Annual Growth Surveys have in common with Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecfin) page EU economic governance and president José Manuel Barroso's own res gestae on New action for growth, governance and stability?

They all offer access to the Annual Growth Survey 2012 and its four annexes in three of the 23 official languages of the European Union: English, French and German.

In my humble opinion it might be easier to inspire politicians and officials at local, regional and national level, people engaged with EU funds and civil society players, as well as the public in most member states, if the Commission cared enough to inform them in their own language.

It is not really that hard, since the Annual Growth Survey 2012 proper seems to exist in 22 of the EU languages, with Irish Gaelic the only exception. (Contrary to normal practice the English, French and German versions were not posted on Eur-Lex where the 19 other language versions were tucked away, but without links to the important annexes.)

Even the four annexes exist (ADD 1, 2, 3 and 4), if you search for Council document 17229/11 in all languages (or the language of your choice).

In other words, the Commission could easily remedy its omission with regard to 19 of the missing languages. After all, the Annual Growth Survey with its annexes is where the Commission wants to show its leadership.



Ralf Grahn

Update: For some reason, after posting, the link to the Annual Growth Survey 2012 on Eur-Lex turned up the Draft Joint Employment Report instead, but without links to the AGS or the other annexes. Mysterious.

Update 2, 6 January 2012: When the Commission seemingly added the English, French and German versions of the Annual Growth Survey 2012 (AGS) to the 19 existing language versions, it linked to one of the annexes instead, so the number of correct versions is still 19 on Eur-Lex. The annexes in national languages are still missing on the EU2020 pages.

Europe's Digital Competitiveness Report 2010

Competitiveness is as important as sustainable public finances for the member states of the European Union. Indeed, growth and jobs are key to higher revenue, less expenditure and better budget balance.

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a key to progress, and the EU offers an institutional framework for mutual learning.

These opportunities are essential for the weaker states in the eurozone and the EU.


Finding EU documents

It would be easier to find COM and SEC documents (preparatory documents) if the European Commission posted them all on Eur-Lex according to date and with all language versions visible through the bibliographic note.


Digital Competitiveness

Let us turn to the contents of one of the cornerstones of the Digital Agenda for Europe, one of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU2020):

Europe's Digital Competitiveness Report 2010

(formally the two volumes of the Commission staff working document 17.5.2010 SEC(2010) 627).

The executive summary offered the following declaration on the contents (page 8):

This year’s report focuses on significant developments in the area of broadband, use of internet services and eCommerce, the digital divide, online public services, the economic impact of ICT and the ICT sector. The report benchmarks the relative performance of the EU Member States, where possible compared with other major non-European economies such as the US, Japan and Korea.

With regard to the telecommunications markets (eCommunications), the contents of Chapter 2 Broadband are largely identical with the 15th report on the Single European Electronic Communications Market – 2009 COM(2010) 253 and the accompanying staff working document SEC(2010) 630.


Digital Single Market

The same summary presented main findings about the ideal of a digital single market, one of the main challenges for the Digital Agenda and the Single Market Act (SMA):

The internet has a huge potential to strengthen the single market by providing individuals and businesses with access, at their finger tips, to the entirety of the EU single market, by making them more informed market participants and by making prices more transparent. However, the level of eCommerce and eBusiness varies across Member States, and cross-border transactions are limited. Some 54% of internet users in the EU now engage in eCommerce (ordering or buying) but only 22 % of those e-shoppers have ordered from other EU countries. The main barriers to buying online are the perceived lack of need, security, trust and privacy concerns, and lack of skills. Online businesses also face regulatory and practical barriers to cross-border trading. As a result, more than 60% of cross-border transactions cannot be completed because traders refuse to serve consumers abroad. However, a genuine Digital Single Market, an important source of economic growth, is essential to stimulate the growth of businesses through larger markets and to provide consumers with more choice and lower prices.

Productivity growth

The following reminds me of the great productivity challenges of the Mediterranean EU members, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, (Malta), Portugal and Spain, as well as the other new member states (page 11):

The ICT industry is an important contributor to the growth of the European economy: while representing 5% of GDP, it drives 20% of overall productivity growth. Accounting for 1% of GDP, the ICT manufacturing sector is responsible for one quarter of total R&D investment. Together with ICT investment and take-up by enterprises, the sector drives half of productivity growth, as was the case before the recent economic crisis.

***

I intend to present and to comment on some other interesting ICT policy findings in one or more blog posts.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Dear Reader, I am interested in national Digital Agendas and existing language versions, as well as information society plans and IT policy actions in the member states of the European Union. If you know something about national ICT policy and law, I am grateful if you can use the comment section or email me with relevant information.

EU media freedom, policy and law

The Europe 2020 growth reform strategy and its flagship initiatives, such as the Digital Agenda for Europe, offer opportunities for cross-border learning between the governments and administrations in the European Union.

Information society and ICT issues are among the most dynamic policy areas, where the needs and opportunities are great.


Media freedom high-level group

Some important aspects will be covered by the high-level group to provide recommendations for the respect, protection, support and promotion of media freedom and pluralism in Europe. The group was convened by the Digital Agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes, and it is chaired by the former president of Latvia, professor Vaira Vike-Freiberga. The press release of 11 October 2011 IP/11/1173 is available in 22 official EU languages.

On the Commission's Information Society web page Freedom and Pluralism of the Media the high-level group is called a Committee on Freedom and Pluralism of the Media.


EU media policy

For all those who are interested in EU media policy and law, the Commission's Media Task Force offers an inventory of measures affecting the media (updated April 2011).

On thirty plus pages the inventory offers concentrated views of measures – EU acquis and ongoing - within the following categories of policies across several Commission services:

1. Audiovisual and media policies
2. Electronic communications policy
3. Digital Agenda
4. Research
5. Other policy files with potential media impact
6. References

The short references and notes are augmented by helpful links.


National Digital Agendas

Through Twitter @RalfGrahn and my blog I asked for information if there is a national Digital Agenda in your EU country in the footsteps of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

The invitation remains open. It would be great if you could send me one tweet per language version. Please use the hashtag #DigitalAgenda to spread the word instantly.

If you want to write more, you could use the comments section of this blog or send me an email.

I will try to disseminate the information received.



Ralf Grahn

EU electronic communications market(s) at Digital Agenda start

I returned to the sources of the EU strategies for economic growth and the knowledge society in a number of blog posts published between 14 and 20 October 2011 (FI SV EN). Links are provided in the entry EU2020 and Digital Agenda roundup: innovative and competitive Europe?


Electronic communications market(s)

On 25 May 2010 the Commission published one of the cornerstones of the Europe 2020 strategy flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe. This was a communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions about the state of the communications market(s) in Europe. At the time I noted the publication of the progress report and its findings of market fragmentation.

I added an entry about consumers facing roaming charges in real life, and another post about ambitious agendas and progress as proclaimed by the member states' governments.


COM(2010) 253 final/3

The communication exists in 22 official EU languages, but the version in force seems to be the third revision. We go to the English pdf version:

CORRIGENDUM:
Annule et remplace le document COM(2010) 253 final du 25.5.2010
Concerne toutes les versions linguistiques

PROGRESS REPORT ON THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET 2009 (15TH REPORT); Brussels, 25.8.2010 COM(2010) 253 final/3 (16 pages)

The 15th report made it clear from the start that European consumers and businesses were not served well in one functioning single digital market, but ripped off in 27 different electronic communications markets (page 2):

Consumers and businesses are still faced with 27 different markets and are thus not able to take advantage of the economic potential of a single market.

At least, the progress report did not leave the Digital Agenda people without useful employment during the EU2020 decade.

Among other things, the communication discussed the independence and resources of national regulatory authorities (NRAs), legislation and regulatory activities concerning the migration from copper cables to fibre, mobile termination rates, radio spectrum management and mobile satellite services, as well as charges faced by consumers.

The Commission concluded by promising certain actions (page 16):

In line with the Digital Agenda and the measures it outlines on spectrum, universal service, the regulatory treatment of NGAs and privacy, the Commission will also take a number of targeted measures:

(1) to address the divergences in regulatory approaches and the lack of timely and effective enforcement of remedies;

(2) to lay solid foundations for a correct and timely implementation of the revised regulatory framework and;

(3) to ensure an effectively functioning Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).

eCommunications

Telecoms networks and services are sorted under the Commission's Information Society web pages eCommunications. There the web page 15th Progress report on the single european electronic communications market - 2009 offers you access to the communication COM(2010) 253 in 22 EU languages, as well as to the two parts of the accompanying Commission staff working document SEC(2010) 630 final/2 with much more detail (English only), including the Country chapters (Annex 1 in Part 1 or separately).



Ralf Grahn

EU information society priorities revisited

Is it possible that Europeans do not believe in a real digital single market as a realistic possibility, but see just one more slogan in an endless bog of internal market tinkering?


European information society priorities

As I mentioned in the blog post EU Digital Agenda Public consultation 2009, one of the key documents on the road to the new ICT priorities of the Digital Agenda was the Summary of responses to the public consultation public consultation Priorities for a new strategy for European information society (2010-2015) (DG INFSO, 28 pages).

The public consultation was open from 4 August to 9 October 2009, but the summary is undated.

I am still worried about the proportionately low level of responses to the information society consultation from the Mediterranean EU member states Greece, Portugal and Spain we have seen so much in the news, as well as from the new member states which still have a huge need to catch up.


European information society themes

Rereading the consultation summary, I still feel it offers useful facts and views about the state of the European information society themes (page 5):

1) ICT for a growth and jobs agenda, 2) ICT for a sustainable 'low carbon' economy; 3) Improving Europe's performance in ICT research and innovation; 4) Creating a 100% connected society and economy through a high-speed and open internet for all; 5) Consolidating the online Single Market; 6) Promoting access to creativity at all levels; 7) Strengthening EU's role in the international ICT arena; 8) Making modern and efficient public services available and accessible to all; 9) Using ICT to improve the quality of life of EU citizens.

Online single market

In retrospect I am somewhat puzzled by the lack of interest, vision and ambition among both individual citizens and organisations relating to the online single market (nowadays often called the digital single market) as an ICT policy priority. See page 9.

Is it possible that Europeans do not believe in a real digital single market as a realistic possibility, but see it as just one more slogan in an endless bog of internal market tinkering?

In my view, a truly EU-wide digital single market would be a huge boost to European competitiveness and innovation and to most of the other worthy aims of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Despite the low priority in the abstract, section 3.4 Digital Single Market (on pages 18-20) showed clear interest in issues presented in more concrete terms. Some of them, such as copyright legislation and licensing regimes which stifle innovative pan-European digital content services, are controversial.

***

All in all, in the context of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020) revisiting the ICT priorities through the EU information society consultation felt like a wortwhile exercise, not a waste of time.



Ralf Grahn

Digital Agenda performance targets

A number of the aims of A Digital Agenda for Europe have been turned into measurable targets, mainly in the medium term (by 2015).

What can European businesses and citizens expect from their digital environment?

Annex 2 (pages 40-41) of the Digital Agenda communication offers us the following Key Performance Targets, mainly drawn from the Benchmarking framework 2011-2015 endorsed by the EU member states in November 2009:

1. Broadband targets:

• Basic broadband for all by 2013: basic broadband coverage for 100% of EU citizens. (Baseline: Total DSL coverage (as % of the total EU population) was at 93% in December 2008.)

• Fast broadband by 2020: broadband coverage at 30 Mbps or more for 100% of EU citizens. (Baseline: 23% of broadband subscriptions were with at least 10 Mbps in January 2010.)

• Ultra-fast broadband by 2020: 50% of European households should have subscriptions above 100Mbps. (No baseline)


2. Digital single market:

• Promoting eCommerce: 50% of the population should be buying online by 2015. (Baseline: In 2009, 37 % of the individuals aged 16-74 ordered goods or services for private use in the last 12 months.)

• Cross-border eCommerce: 20% of the population should buy cross border online by 2015. (Baseline: In 2009, 8 % of the individuals aged 16-74 ordered goods or services from sellers from other EU countries in the last 12 months.)

• eCommerce for business: 33% of SMEs should conduct online purchases/sales by 2015. (Baseline: During 2008, 24% and 12% of enterprises was, respectively, purchasing/selling electronically, for an amount equal to or greater than 1% of the turnover/total purchases.

• Single market for telecoms services: the difference between roaming and national tariffs should approach zero by 2015. (Baseline: In 2009, the roaming average price per minute was 0.38 cents (call made) and the average price per minute for all calls in the EU was 0.13 cents (roaming included).


3. Digital inclusion:

• Increase regular internet use from 60% to 75% by 2015 and from 41% to 60% for disadvantaged people. (Baseline figures are for 2009).

• Halve the proportion of population that has never used the internet by 2015 (to 15%). (Baseline: In 2009, 30% of individuals aged 16-74 had never used the internet.)


4. Public services:

• eGovernment by 2015: 50% of citizens using eGovernment, with more than half of them returning filled in forms. (Baseline: In 2009, 38% of individuals aged 16-74 had used eGovernment services in the last 12 months, and 47% of them used eGovernment services for sending filled forms.)

• Cross-border public services: by 2015 online availability of all the key crossborder public services contained in the list to be agreed by Member States by 2011. (No baseline)


5. Research & innovation:

• ICT R&D increase: Double public investment to €11 billion. (Baseline: ICT government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (ICT GBAORD) was 5,7 billion nominal euros in 2007.)


6. Low Carbon Economy:

• Promotion of low energy lighting: By 2020 at least 20% overall reduction in energy use on lighting. (No baseline.)

Digital Agenda context and contents

The communication Europe 2020 A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth COM(2010) 2020 outlined A Digital Agenda for Europe, one of the seven flagship initiatives.

The Digital Agenda was launched 19 May 2010, but about three months later the first Digital Agenda communication was replaced by a corrected version in all languages. I do not remember seeing any explanation for substituting the original communication. The English communication comes with the same warning as the other language versions:

CORRIGENDUM:
Annule et remplace le document COM(2010) 245 final du 19.5.2010
Concerne toutes les versions linguistiques

A Digital Agenda for Europe; Brussels, 26.8.2010 COM(2010) 245 final/2 (41 pages)


Planned actions

In addition to the aim of ”A vibrant digital single market” the Digital Agenda communication sketched the planned actions concerning interoperability and standards, trust and security, fast and ultra fast internet access, research and innovation, enhancing digital literacy and skills and inclusion, ICT-enabled benefits for EU society, international aspects of the Digital Agenda, and implementation and governance.

Annex 1 Table of legislative actions (pages 37-39) contains a lot of information in a nutshell.


Digital Agenda updates

Although it felt refreshing to return to the original communications, we should not forget that a lot has already happened. We can turn to updated information on the dedicated websites for the EU2020 growth strategy and the seven flagship initiatives intended to be mutually reinforcing, specifically the flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe which brings together the different strands, as well as the reform package known as the Single Market Act (SMA), relevant for the digital single market.



Ralf Grahn

”A vibrant digital single market”

Originally the EU2020 flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe was outlined in the communication Europe 2020 A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth COM(2010) 2020, then launched on 19 May 2010.

However, about three months later the first Digital Agenda communication was replaced by a corrected version in all languages. Hence the English communication comes with a warning, as do the other language versions:

CORRIGENDUM:
Annule et remplace le document COM(2010) 245 final du 19.5.2010
Concerne toutes les versions linguistiques

A Digital Agenda for Europe; Brussels, 26.8.2010 COM(2010) 245 final/2 (41 pages)


”A vibrant digital single market”

Persistent fragmentation is stifling Europe's competitiveness in the digital economy, and the EU is falling behind in markets such as media services, both in terms of what consumers can access and in terms of business models that can create jobs in Europe.

The Digital Agenda authors understand that the single market (officially still the internal market) needs a fundamental update to bring it into the internet era, but the communication promises nothing more, nothing less than ”A vibrant digital single market” for Europe, the first action area presented (from page 7).

The explanations regarding the reasons and the planned actions to progress towards the digital single market were bunched together under these group headings:

Opening up access to content (page 7-10)
Making online and cross border transactions straightforward (page 10-11)
Building digital confidence (page 11-13)
Reinforcing the single market for telecommunications services (page 13-14)

Digital Agenda themes

Besides the digital single market, the Table of contents of A Digital Agenda for Europe offers an overview of the other themes of the communication:

1. Introduction
2. The action areas of the Digital Agenda
2.1. A vibrant digital single market
2.2. Interoperability and standards
2.3. Trust and security
2.4. Fast and ultra fast internet access
2.5. Research and innovation
2.6. Enhancing digital literacy, skills and inclusion
2.7. ICT-enabled benefits for EU society
2.8. International aspects of the Digital Agenda
3. Implementation and governance

The Europe 2020 strategy, its Digital Agenda and the Single Market Act are of interest to the dynamic parts of European society.



Ralf Grahn

EU2020: Competitiveness, innovation and digital single market

A while ago I wrote a series of blog posts about the controversies regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA):

IPR trade protection: ACTA controversy


Innovation and competitiveness

Then, I turned to innovation, competitiveness and information society issues in line with the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU2020).

Part of the series followed competitiveness reforms in Denmark, in an attempt to see how the EU countries can learn from each other:

A Digital Agenda for Sweden

EU2020 growth reforms Denmark: Policy outcomes

EU2020 and WEF: Competitiveness

EU2020: Learning from the best

Productive and sustainable Denmark

Denmark: Competitiveness challenges

EU2020: Denmark aims for high employment

EU2020: Research and development quality in Denmark

EU2020: Innovation Union evaluates RDI in Denmark


Digital Single Market

The EU2020 growth strategy, its flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe and the reform package known as the Single Market Act all contribute towards what could become the Digital Single Market.

Earlier blog posts offer background to a new series about politics and law in the digital world, but this is only the beginning:

EU Digital Single Market

EU-kuuleminen televisiosta ja elokuvasta digimaailmassa



Ralf Grahn

EU Digital Single Market

In July 2011 I wrote about how Mario Monti confronted the lack of an EU Digital Single Market. I looked at how Monti's proposals became a part of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020) and its flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe.

Various aspects of the Digital Agenda, including the Digital Single Market, are covered in the blog posts mentioned in my 17 July and 24 July roundups.


Consultation on distribution of audiovisual works

One of the issues with relevance for the Digital Agenda is the ongoing consultation on the green paper concerning the distribution of audiovisual works in the European Union. Issues relating to the single market, as well as copyright and neighbouring rights are handled by the Commission DG for the internal market and services, so this is where you find the needed information. The deadline for contributions is 18 November 2011.

The Green paper on the online distribution of audiovisual works in the EU is available in 22 official EU languages; the English pdf version:

GREEN PAPER on the online distribution of audiovisual works in the European Union: opportunities and challenges towards a digital single market; Brussels, 13.7.2011 COM(2011) 427 final (19 pages)

You can stay updated by following @DigitalAgendaEU and @EU_Markt on Twitter and Digital Agenda on Facebook.



Ralf Grahn

EU2020: Innovation Union evaluates RDI in Denmark

Innovation Union (with key documents), which was launched a year ago, is one of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The web pages are excellent. You can follow @innovationunion on Twitter and like Innovation Union on Facebook.

Through Eur-Lex you can find the communication in 22 official EU languages; the English pdf version:

Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union; Brussels, 6.10.2010 COM(2010) 546 final (43 pages)

The communication was accompanied by the longer Commission staff working document:

A RATIONALE FOR ACTION; Brussels, 6.10.2010 SEC(2010) 1161 final (103 pages)


Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011

The Directorate-General for Research and Innovation has just published a hefty report on where the European Union and its member states stand with regard to reseaarch, development and innovation:

Innovation Union Competitiveness Report – 2011 edition


Denmark RDI

The blog post EU2020: Research and development quality in Denmark told us that the country already invested more than 3 per cent of GDP in RDI activities. The then Danish government was more interested in improving the output from the efforts.

There are Country Profile pages for 33 countries, the 27 EU member states plus Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

The country profile for knowledge-intensive Denmark shows that although the target of 3 per cent had already been reached, on current trends the country could attain 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2020.

Besides a general assessment of strengths and weaknesses, much of the information on the eight pages relates to Danish participation in the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), managed by CORDIS – the Community Research and Development Information Service.

However, should we look for outside comparative evaluations in order to get a rounded view of innovation in Denmark?



Ralf Grahn

EU2020: Research and development quality in Denmark

In the blog post EU2020: Denmark aims for high employment we saw that a high employment rate (75 per cent) is a headline target of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, but new reform efforts are needed to put the European Union as a whole on track.

Although somewhat dented during the crisis years, Denmark had 76.1 per cent of 20-64 year old employed, so the National Reform Programme (NRP) 2011 promises continued reforms in order to reach an employment rate of 80 per cent by 2020.

We return to the English version of the Danish Government's NRP in in order to see the plans concerning research and development:

Denmark's National Reform Programme (May 2011; 67 pages)


Research and development quality

For the EU as a whole, the EU2020 strategy aims at a quantitative target – 3 per cent of GDP – for research and development (R&D) and innovation activities by 2020, including both private and public investment.

Admittedly, this quantitative input measure is a bit primitive, but better than nothing. The European Union as a whole needs to catch up with the most innovative countries, states (USA) and regions in the world.

According to Eurostat, in 2009 the EU-27 R&D investment was just 2.01 per cent of GDP, but Denmark on 3.02 per cent had already reached the EU2020 target, third behind Finland (3.96%) and Sweden (3.62%).

The Danish research, development and innovation (RDI) strategy does not aim to throw more into the input basket, but it is focused on increasing the effectiveness of productivity in the field of research (NRP page 19).

The NRP Box 2.2 on page 20 presents new initiatives in the areas of research, development and innovation.


Annual Growth Survey

The European Commission presented its guidance for the final versions of the National Reform Programmes in its communication:

Annual Growth Survey: advancing the EU's comprehensive response to the crisis; Brussels, 12.1.2010 COM(2011) 11 final

The AGS made a few general points about research, development, innovation and competitiveness during tough times:

All Member States, especially those in excessive deficit procedure, should keep public expenditure growth firmly below the rate of medium term trend GDP growth, while prioritising sustainable growth friendly expenditure in areas such as research and innovation, education and energy (page 4).

Member States should simplify their regimes for the recognition of professional qualifications to facilitate the free circulation of citizens, workers and researchers (page 7).

To remain competitive in a globalised economy Member States must urgently begin the deep structural reforms needed to enhance the excellence of our research and our capacity to innovate, turning ideas into products and services that meet the demand of high-growth markets, taking advantage of the technological capabilities of our industry and helping SMEs to grow and internationalise (page 7).

In addition to budget priorities, the Danish government and the Commission point towards quality consciousness and RDI excellence in order to enhance competitiveness of European businesses.



Ralf Grahn

EU2020: Denmark aims for high employment

In the blog post Denmark: Competitiveness challenges we found slow productivity growth as well as high and rising wage costs among the major hurdles for the future of the Danish economy.

What does the National Reform Programme (NRP) tell us about growth-enhancing structural reforms in Denmark?

The Danish Government's NRP in English:

Denmark's National Reform Programme (May 2011; 67 pages)


Employment rate

The more people work, the more they pay taxes and social contributions. This is good for the budget balance, especially when the demand for social benefits decreases when people move into employment. The ”work first” principle of the Swedish government guides decisions not only on taxes and benefits, but practically every aspect of government policy.

The more successful societies seem able to mobilise more talent than the governments in the less competitive countries. Participation by women and real retirement ages are obvious factors, as are youth, people with an immigration background, the unemployed and various marginal groups.

Denmark is well known for its flexicurity model, but the government of the day promised further reforms in order to reach an employment rate of 80 per cent among 20-64 year olds by 2020 (page 14).

Denmark, like some of the other highly competitive EU member states, targets a clearly higher employment rate than the EU2020 headline target of 75 per cent.

According to Eurostat, the Danish employment rate 76.1 per cent already surpassed the EU end goal in 2010.

The European Union as a whole (EU-27), with an employment rate of 68.6 per cent, has a steep climb ahead of it to reach even the 75 per cent target by 2020.

The Danish NPR offers inspiration based on a constant stream of Initiatives to promote labour supply and employment (Box 2.1, pages 15-16).

The NPR of Denmark (page 17) found that the national efforts were in line with the Annual Growth Survey COM(2011) 11 from the European Commission, where the recommendations to mobilise the labour markets and to create job opportunities are found on the pages 5-7.

However, the AGS found that the European Union as a whole was going to miss the much lower headline goal of 75 per cent on existing trends, so there is a great need for effective labour market reforms in the EU member states.



Ralf Grahn

Denmark: Competitiveness challenges

After Productive and sustainable Denmark as seen by the World Economic Forum (WEF), we look at what Denmark has planned in order to become even more innovative and competitive, in line with the aims of Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.


National Reform Programme 2011

Last spring, in line with the European semester and the Annual Growth Survey, each EU member state submitted the final version of its National Reform Programme to the Commission. To a large extent the Danish NRP 2011 builds on the 39-page Danmark 2020 programme from February 2010:

Danmarks Nationale Reformprogram 2011 (Maj 2011; 65 pages)

Thanks to the English versions, the NRPs can be studied more widely:

The Danish Government: Denmark's National Reform Programme (May 2011; 67 pages)

The Introduction offers an overview of the NRP contents:

 Chapter 1 deals with the overall framework for the Danish economy based on the 2020 Plan.
 Chapter 2 focuses on the Danish national targets which will contribute to fulfilling the Europe 2020 strategy and strategies for meeting the targets.
 Chapter 3 identifies the structural bottlenecks for growth in Denmark.
 Chapter 4 describes the inclusion of relevant ministries and non governmental organisations relevant for the Europe 2020 strategy, including their involvement in the drawing up of the national reform programme.

Competitiveness challenges

After presenting the macroeconomic background, the Danish NRP moves on to more specific issues of competitiveness. These reveal a number of challenges to Denmark's future prosperity. Two major ones:

The programme noted that between 1999 and 2009 Denmark recorded the second-lowest annual rate of productivity growth among the OECD countries.

Wage costs in Denmark have risen more than in Germany and elsewhere abroad during a number of years. In the Danish manufacturing industry wage costs are higher than in all other OECD countries except Norway.



Ralf Grahn

Productive and sustainable Denmark

Three magic words: competitiveness, productivity, prosperity.

Studying innovative and competitive independent countries, or states of the USA, much of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020) is about learning from the best.

Before turning to the WEF pillars of competitiveness, we had already taken a peek at the economy and society of Denmark.

We have also seen that among the 142 countries and territories compared by the World Economic Forum, Denmark ranked eighth according in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2011-2012 (table 3, page 15):

Klaus Schwab (Editor): The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 (World Economic Forum WEF; 527 pages)

Tables 4 to 7 allow us to get a more detailed view of how competitive Denmark (or another country) is with regard to different groups of criteria or pillars, more fully explained on pages 47-49. According to the summary on page 24, Denmark has quality institutions, infrastructure and education like its Nordic neighbours, but its labour market flexibility is a distinguishing feature.

A fourth magic word is 'sustainability'.

The Sustainable Competitiveness Index (SCI; beta version) was presented by the WEF for the first time. The challenging and interesting SCI tries to determine the level of productivity while ensuring the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The SCI is an effort to integrate factors of economic, social and environmental sustainability. Denmark came in eighth in the integrated GCI as well.

Country presentation

You find the country presentation of Denmark on the pages 162-163, including the most problematic factors for doing business, as well as the scores for about a hundred different factors.



Ralf Grahn