Containing eurozone and US jitters?

Italy and Spain have faced increasing pressure from the bond markets, as well as outspoken calls to put their house in order.

To shift you into the right mood, Place du Luxembourg offers a detailed view of last week's bond yields and developments in the eurozone, with an abundance of references.

Not only vacations of political leaders and central bankers, but weekends too, were cut because of the credit downgrade of the United States and sour bond markets in the euro area.


Sarkozy and Merkel

The French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the German chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement, where they reiterated their full support for the implementation of the agreement at the eurozone summit 21 July 2011.

They wish for the rapid approval of the decisions by the national parliaments, and they welcome the decisions by Italy and Spain to speed up budgetary consolidation and reforms for improving competitiveness. See (in French):

Zone euro – Communiqué franco-allemand


ECB Trichet

After a telephone conference of the Governing Council, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Jean-Claude Trichet issued a statement, which welcomed the announcements made by the governments of Italy and Spain concerning new measures and reforms in the areas of fiscal and structural policies. The Governing Council considers a decisive and swift implementation by both governments as essential in order to substantially enhance the competitiveness and flexibility of their economies, and to rapidly reduce public deficits.

The statement required full implementation by Italy and Spain of the new measures, as well as by all the eurozone countries with regard to both their national commitments and the decisions by the euro area summit 21 July.

On these conditions, the ECB dangled the hope of intervening through its Securities Markets Programme:

7 August 2011 - Statement by the President of the ECB


Italy

During the week, Italy was hit by prohibitively high rates to (re)fianance its public debt. At a press conference 5 August 2011, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and finance minister Giulio Tremonti announced measures to accelerate the reduction of the public deficit and to introduce structural reforms.

Il Sole 24ore explains that anticipated budget cuts will balance the Italian budget already in 2013, instead of 2014: Anticipo 23 miliardi per i tagli. More on the government proposals, including a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, here, and on the demands of the ECB here.


Spain

In the other big eurozone country hit by the bond markets, El País offers us an overview of the new measures by the Spanish government and finance minister Elena Salgado during the weekend: Salgado detalla un plan de ajuste de 5.000 millones ante la présion europea.


G7 statement

The Financial Times has gained access to and published the statement by the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 countries, who promise action and liquidity.

This morning the markets in Asia have not been jubilant, but perhaps we should wait for the details of various measures to emerge and be digested.



Ralf Grahn

Olli Rehn asserts budget consolidation and structural reform

The EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, Friday tried using reason with regard to the eurozone bond market turmoil:

Ongoing developments in the eurozone; 5 August 2011 SPEECH/11/540

According to Rehn, the latest market run on members of the euro area is not reasonable:

The spread of bond-market tensions across the euro area is, however, not justified by economic and budgetary fundamentals. Economic recovery is proceeding in most parts of the euro area, while important steps in budgetary consolidation and structural reform are underway across Europe and in particular in those Member States most exposed to market tensions.

My blog entry Rehn asserts eurozone recovery concluded that the commissioner had documented his case regarding growth, in the European Union as a whole and Cyprus, Italy and Spain specifically. (Naturally, if the markets turn ugly enough, anything can happen.)

I noticed that fellow blogger Protesilaos Stavrou fired a new broadside at the EU leadership - including José Manuel Barroso, Herman Van Rompuy and Olli Rehn – for ”challenging reason and real world facts”.

Should we look a bit more specifically at Rehn's assertion about budgetary consolidation and structural reform?


European Semester

The European Commission started the first beefed-up and streamlined planning cycle called the European Semester by a 12 January 2011 communication from Rehn's DG Ecfin. The AGS is available in 22 official EU languages; here the English version:

Annual Growth Survey: advancing the EU's comprehensive response to the crisis; Brussels, 12.1.2010 COM(2011) 11 final (10 pages)

DG Ecfin offers all interested readers an informative web page Stability and Convergence Programmes (or updates) and National Reform Programmes 2011, where you can find links to the national programmes for sustainable public finances (Stability and Growth Pact SGP) and for growth-enhancing reforms in line with the Europe 2020 strategy.

Although you have to look separately for intermediary stages, such as European Council conclusions and contributions by various Council configurations, there are links to the Commission staff working papers and proposed recommendations for the euro area and for each member state (including Cyprus, Italy and Greece).

The Ecofin Council concluded the first European Semester by issuing recommendations regarding both budget consolidation and structural reforms, exactly six months after the publication of the AGS.

Having been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, these recommendations and opinions are available in the EU language of your choice:

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 12 July 2011 on the implementation of the broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States whose currency is the euro; OJEU 23.7.2011 C 217/15

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 12 July 2011 on the national reform programme 2011 for Cyprus and delivering a Council opinion on the updated stability programme of Cyprus, 2011-2014; OJEU 16.7.2011 C 210/12

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 12 July 2011 on the National Reform Programme 2011 of Italy and delivering a Council opinion on the updated Stability Programme of Italy, 2011-2014; OJEU 21.7.2011 C 215/4

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 12 July 2011 on the National Reform Programme 2011 of Spain and delivering a Council opinion on the updated Stability Programme of Spain, 2011-2014; OJEU 19.7.2011 C 212/1

***

Having read the AGS and the recommendations and opinions, I invite readers to demonstrate where Rehn went over board in his assertion about budgetary consolidation and structural reform. (Again, a stampede can obliterate the worthiest intentions.)



Ralf Grahn

Barroso calls for end to eurozone contagion

When the eurozone is marching towards more sustainable deficits, why did the bond markets suddenly pounce on Cyprus, Italy and Spain?

Their public deficits are far from new. The structural weaknesses and the resulting lack of competitiveness of these Mediterranean countries are notorius – and age old old problems they will ultimately have to confront and overcome.

The twin tracks of the Stability and Growth Pact and the Europe 2020 strategy are as true as ever.

After the competitiveness theme, with the Wealth of Nations roundup and Growth and competitiveness: California vs Europe as the latest contributions, I wanted to take a peek at the latest patients destined for compulsory care by the financial markets.

My musings started a series about Cyprus, Italy and Spain in the eurozone crisis (in Swedish, but with a number of links to materials available in English).

Grahnblawg: Turbulens trots minskande budgetunderskott i Europa (3 August 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Euroakuten: Cypern, Italien och Spanien (3 August 2011)

Grahnblawg: Euroområdet: Kortsiktig nervositet och långsiktiga reformer (4 August 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Ledare och bloggar om eurokrisen (4 August 2011)


Eurozone summit

In the background we have the eurozone crisis summit, with its conclusions on the agreed measures for Greece (including private sector involvement), extended powers for the EfSF and the ESM, lower rates for Ireland and Portugal, commitment to fiscal and growth targets etc:

Statement by the Heads of State or Government of the Euro Area and EU institutions; 21 July 2011 (4 pages)

Some may prefer a more journalistic approach. Spiegel Online explained the main decisions of the eurozone summit: What Was Decided at the Euro-Zone Crisis Summit (25 July 2011).

Barroso goes public

Yesterday brought some additions to the emerging picture. Commission president José Manuel Barroso published his letter to the heads of state or government. Despite the economic and budgetary fundamentals, Barroso explicitly mentioned the bond markets of Italy and Spain (as well as other euro area states) as ”a cause of deep concern” for the euro area as a whole.

Barroso called for the speedy and unconditional approval of the decisions of the eurozone summit 21 July 2011, but he also saw the need for further action to stem contagion. Barroso publicly proposed a reassessment of the beefed up European Financial Stability Facility EFSF and the the new European Stability Mechanism ESM:

Whatever the factors behind the lack of success, it is clear that we are no longer managing a crisis just in the euro-area periphery. Euro-area financial stability must be safeguarded, with all EU institutions playing their part with the full backing of euro area Member States. We need also to consider how to further improve the effectiveness of both the EFSF and the ESM in order to address the current contagion.

Concretely, I would like to call on you to accelerate the approval procedures for the implementation of these decisions so as to make the EFSF enhancements operational very soon. These changes should also avoid introducing excessive constraints in terms of either additional conditionality or collateralisation of EFSF lending. I trust that governments and national Parliaments will rapidly approve these decisions necessary to improve the EFSF flexibility.

I also take the opportunity to urge a rapid re-assessment of all elements related to the EFSF, and concomitantly the ESM, in order to ensure that they are equipped with the means for dealing with contagious risk.

Media

Andrew Rettman on EUobserver noted that the Barroso letter was more outspoken than his earlier press statement. The article analysed the text of the letter and added comments by the Commission spokesperson: Barroso raises alarm about severity of euro crisis (4 August 2011).

EurActiv draws a background picture, with references and links to messages from various European capitals: Barroso asks leaders to stand firm on pledges (4 August 2011).

Ivan Delibasic contributed with another background in New Europe: It's all 'bear' and no 'bull' for Spain and Italy (4 August 2011).

In the European Voice, Simon Taylor offers an account of the Barroso letter: Barroso warns of eurozone crisis spreading (4 August 2011).

Deutsche Welle reported both German disapproval of Barroso's ideas and the downward spiral on bond and equity markets (in German): Barroso befürchtet Ausbreitung der Euro-Krise (4 August 2011.

On the FT Brussels blog, Joshua Chaffin discussed the vicissitudes of politics in Cyprus against the backdrop of the eurozone crisis: How will Cyprus restore its finances? (4 August 2011).

***

To grow commensurate to the tasks, the European Union (eurozone) needs to become more effective, which in turn requires a union based on the sovereignty of its citizens.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Great resource: For quality articles and wise comment from the European press, you can follow Presseurop in any of ten available languages.

Wealth of Nations roundup

Competitiveness is at the heart of living standards and the quality of life, so our previous compilation of blog posts was a European ICT competitiveness roundup.

Here are the last July 2011 additions, which bring more European and global elements to the discussion.

Grahnlaw: European business leaders boost the European Dream (29 July 2011)

Grahnlaw: USA and EU falling behind in innovation and competitiveness (30 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Finnish): USA ja EU: Innovaatiot ja kilpailukyky laahaavat (31 July 2011)

Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish): Kilpailukyky: Voittajat ja haastajat (31 July 2011). - Something of a synthesis post, this one.

***

The Nordic countries are still impressive, but they have to run hard to keep their positions. The Asian tigers make huge progress and some of the new EU member states have caught up spectacularly well.

In the United States, some of the individual states are more competitive than any of the sovereign economies in the world, but is the USA as a whole in decline and without the mentality for proactive public policies to turn the tide?

Many of the members of the European Union and the EU as a whole worry me. Do the member state politicians have what it takes to achieve sustainable public finances and to make the Europe 2020 reform strategy a success story, nationally and as contributors at the EU level?

Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth is a huge challenge, but shouldn't Europeans become interested in the building process, rather than waiting until things have gone wrong and showing their indignation only when already hit by the consequences?



Ralf Grahn



P.S. From Turkey, the land of Orhan Pamuk, the prolific social media activist Erkan Saka sends us one of his regular Euro updates.

USA and EU falling behind in innovation and competitiveness

We have seen that the European trade associations for businesses offering ICT goods and services want pan-European regulation. The industry players have lined up behind the Digital Agenda, including the Digital Single Market, expecting the politicians to play their part for a competitive Europe.

The dual ambitions of the European Commission to focus on promoting sustainable public finances and contributing to growth-enhancing economic reforms according to the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) are, in my view, remarkably well in line with what European business leaders and policy shapers are calling for.

But the European Union needs much more: full scale support from politicians at all levels.


ITIF

Again, Twitter acted as the news medium, alerting me to the ITIF benchmarking report about innovation and competitiveness. (Sadly, I am not able to give credit to the individual tweeter, since I forgot to note the tweet, which already seems to have disappeared.)

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation ITIF, based in Washington DC (USA), published The Atlantic Century II: Benchmarking EU and U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness, which found both dark clouds over all and bright spots with regard to nine of the the United States of America (introduction):

… the 2011 report finds that America has made little or no progress since 1999. Of the 44 countries and regions surveyed, the United States still ranks fourth behind Singapore, Finland and Sweden. But this is down from the number one position in 2000. Of greater concern, however, is the fact that the U.S. continues to rank at the bottom – second only to Italy – on progress in improving its innovation capacity and competitiveness over the last decade. But the updated report contains encouraging news for some individual states. Measured against the foreign countries and regions, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Delaware, Maryland, Colorado, and New Hampshire would all be ranked number one in innovation-based competitiveness if they were their own countries.

Great for Finland and Sweden, but only if we do not count the nine top US states, more innovative than any nation in the world.

If the USA ranked a (disappointing) fourth, what should we say about the EU, where the fifteen old member states (EU-15) remain stuck in eighteenth place, with the ten new member states (EU-10) still further behind, in position 27?

The rate of progress for the US and the EU can only be described as dismal. Both continue to lose ground in the the ”great game” of the 21st century, the global innovation race.

Besides the good marks for Finland and Sweden, the best news from Europe is that five Central European countries – Cyprus, Slovenia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Latvia – are in the top ten regarding the speed of long term progress between 1999 and 2011, although the recent depression has sapped strength.

The study offers practical advice for the USA and for Europe. Both must push back innovation mercantilism and improve their policies on innovation, productivity and competitiveness.

Europe needs to fully embrace innovation, including the ”creative destruction” so alien to many of its protectionist politicians.

America is described as ”torpid”, sleepwalking to decline without decisive and proactive public action to shape and to act on an national innovation strategy.

This century is not going to be Atlantic, if the US and Europe remain in the slow lane.

You can study the full report:

Robert D. Atkinson and Scott M. Andes, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation: The Atlantic Century II: Benchmarking EU & U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness (July 2011, 42 pages)

***

We need the humility to learn and the courage to act, in both Europe and the United States.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. SFGate tells us that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has unveiled An Economic Growth and Competitivenss Agenda for California, in Silicon Valley. The plan is available here.

Business leaders boost the European Dream

After our European ICT competitiveness roundup it seems natural to take a closer look at the hopes and expectations of European corporate leaders with regard to the future of the EU.

Some people doubt the usefulness of social media, but I beg to differ. This time I noticed an interesting report through @AchimMuellers on Twitter, a consultant who also blogs on Achim Müllers.

Müllers' tweet led me to the report by Booz & Co, the European Executive Council (EEC) and INSEAD: Revitalising the European Dream: A Corporate View.

In addition to demands for EU clout in world affairs and global free trade, the replies from 2,000 European business leaders and policy shapers are remarkably well in line with the current dual ambitions of the European Commission (and the Council) to focus on promoting sustainable public finances and contributing to growth-enhancing economic reforms according to the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020).

However, many business leaders feel that there is a lack of dialogue and interaction with the Commission.

Despite differing outlooks among big corporations and SMEs, as well as between individual countries, the authors of the 19-page report are convinced that

... the revitalisation of the European dream is an imperative that corporate leaders support, not at the expense of other regions, but as a critical requirement and contributor to a healthy and sustainable global economy.

Form and function

The web version of the European Dream report shows the conflict between form and function. The graphical designers have been allowed to use pleasing pastel colours, such as light blue on white and white on blue, which make reading harder and less enjoyable than simpler solutions like black on white. Caveat emptor!



Ralf Grahn


P.S. With the US countdown to default ongoing, professor Robert Reich offers a trenchant view of an ailing America (in the Social Europe Journal).

Nordic ICT competitiveness (INSEAD and WEF)

The tenth GITR from INSEAD and the World Economic Forum (WEF)was practically global, covering the ICT competitiveness of 138 countries or territories:

Soumitra Dutta, INSEAD, and Irene Mia, World Economic Forum (editors): The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011 Transformations 2.0 (411 pages)

This is one of many wide competitiveness comparisons, where we see that the Nordic countries come out well. Here, three EU members were among the world elite. Sweden was seen as the most competitive economy, with Finland in third and Denmark in seventh place.

The EEA members Norway and Iceland were ranked ninth and sixteenth, respectively.

What can the European Union and the other EU member states learn in order to make the Europe 2020 strategy and its Digital Agenda success stories for European competitiveness?



Ralf Grahn



P.S. To remain globally competitive Europe must leverage its economies of scale and remove remaining barriers to the completion and growth of the single market, says GSMA Europe.

EU Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011

After the latest Roundup of Digital Agenda for Europe entry I started to look at the Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011 in Finnish (here and here).

The corrected version of the Digital Agenda communication:

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


Rapid portal down

For some reason the 31 May 2011 press release IP/11/663 (in 22 languages) and the accompanying memorandum MEMO/11/361 (in English only) with scoreboard information in a nutshell, as well as the Europa Rapid portal in general, have been inaccessible during the last two days, so interested readers are encouraged to try later.


EU Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011

Luckily, the web portal of the Europe 2020 (EU2020) flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe is in working order, and we can access the web pages dedicated to the EU Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011.

There are links to the report, the progress of individual actions, country profiles, progress by pillar, graphs and open data.

We turn to the main report.


SEC(2011) 708

The Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011 report seems to be available only in English, but since I was unable to find it on Eur-Lex, there was no bibliographic notice to check:

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER: Digital Agenda Scoreboard; Brussels, 31.5.2011 SEC(2011) 708 (18 pages)


Brownie points

The communication is a blueprint for seven pillars (policy areas) and 101 actions, but the first annual scoreboard records progress mainly with regard to the actions planned for May 2010 to May 2011.

Brownie points for helpful links to relevant web pages throughout the scoreboard report.

The scoreboard report also measures progress towards the key performance targets (from page 11).

More detailed information is available through the Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2011 web pages.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Towards the Single Market Act: The European Digital Media Association EDiMA, which represents the interests of the new media sector in European policy making, responded to the Commission consultation on the relaunch of the Single Market, underlining the Digital Single Market as one of the key priorities.

Roundup of Digital Agenda for Europe

The latest Digital Agenda for Europe roundup was published on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland 17 July 2011. Especially the 2009 seminal report from the Swedish government has experienced a renaissance among readers through the blog post: A Green Knowledge Society (Digital Agenda).

Since then I have written a few more entries about the Europe 2020 (EU 2020) flagship initiative called the Digital Agenda, including the Digital Single Market, so here is a collection of new posts on my four euroblogs.

Grahnblawg (in Swedish): Vision om det gröna kunskapssamhället (17 July 2011)

Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish): EU kohti digitaalistrategiaa: neuvosto 2009 (18 July 2011)

Grahnblawg (in Swedish): Sverige och EU-slutsatser om kunskapssamhället (december 2009) (18 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Spain and ICT industry towards Digital Agenda for Europe (2010) (18 July 2011)

Grahnlaw: Granada Ministerial Declaration on the European Digital Agenda (19 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Finnish): Digitaalistrategia: Euroopan parlamentin 2015.eu (19 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Swedish): Europaparlamentet om en ny digital agenda: 2015.eu (19 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Swedish): En digital agenda för Europa: utgångspunkter (20 July 2011)

Grahnlaw: Digital Single Market in Digital Agenda for Europe (21 July 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Digital Single Market continued (Digital Agenda for Europe) (22 July 2011)

Grahnlaw: Interoperability and standards in Digital Agenda for Europe (23 July 2011)

Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish): Euroopan digitaalistrategian tulostaulu 2011 (24 July 2011)

***

Which aspects of the Digital Agenda do you find most crucial for the living standards and quality of life of EU citizens? You can comment below or share your thoughts by email.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Erkki Ormala, the president of DigitalEurope, shared his thoughts about the Digital Agenda and the Digital Single Market on the news source New Europe.

Interoperability and standards in Digital Agenda for Europe

The introduction of the communication (in Swedish) was followed by overviews of the digital single market in the Digital Agenda for Europe and the planned Pillar I actions: Digital Single Market.


Standards

We move to a new action area in the communication:

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

According to the Commission, to reap the full benefits of ICT deployment interoperability between devices, applications, data repositories, services and networks must be further enhanced. Europe's standard-setting framework must catch up with fast-moving technology markets because standards are vital for interoperability.


Planned actions

The Digital Agenda portal lists a number of planned actions under Pillar II: Interoperability and Standards.

Action 21: Propose legislation on ICT interoperability
Action 22: Promote standard-setting rules
Action 23: Provide guidance on ICT standardisation and public procurement
Action 24: Adopt a European Interoperability Strategy and Framework
Action 25: Analyse the consequences of requesting significant market players to licence information
Action 26: Member States to implement European Interoperability Framework
Action 27: Member States to implement Malmö and Granada declarations

Standardisation review

You can read about the proposed actions in the communication, but we also see the cross-cutting nature of the Digital Agenda.

For an overview, our best course of action seems to be to stroll over to DG Enterprise and Industry:

June 2011 – More Standards for Europe and faster


Standardisation strategy

The communication on standardisation policy is available in 22 official EU languages; here in English:

A strategic vision for European standards: Moving forward to enhance and accelerate the sustainable growth of the European economy by 2020; Brussels, 1.6.2011 COM(2011) 311 final (20 pages)

Because of our interest in the Europe 2020 growth strategy, I quote the paragraph about the relationship between standards and various aspects of the EU2020 strategy (pages 3-4):

Standardisation will play an important part in supporting the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as set out in several flagship initiatives. Innovation Union underlines that a dynamic and responsive European standardisation system is needed to support innovation. The Industrial Policy flagship stresses the need for European standardisation to be highly responsive in a rapidly changing world, for it to support European competitiveness in the global market and for it to meet the needs of both industry and public authorities. The Digital Agenda for Europe highlights the importance of ICT standards in delivering interoperability between devices, applications, data repositories, services and networks. And the Flagship for a Resource Efficient Europe emphasizes the important role of standards in encouraging eco-innovation. Standardisation also play a role in policy measures such as the "Single Market Act", the Communication on Trade, Growth and World Affairs and the Disability Strategy 2010-2020. European standardisation also features in the review of the "Small Business Act" for Europe. The Communication on "a new response to a changing Neighbourhood" also refers to the need for partner countries to implement commitments on taking over EU standards in the framework of the negotiations with respect to Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTA).

(The original document contains references to the relevant communications.)


Standardisation Regulation

As a legislative proposal, the communication on a Regulation for European standardisation is available in all 23 official EU languages (including Irish Gaelic); here in English:

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on European Standardisation and amending Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/105/EC and 2009/23/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; Brussels, 1.6.2011 COM(2011) 315 final (51 pages)

You can follow the procedure on Oeil under number 2011/0150 (COD).

The proposal was accompanied by an impact assessment SEC(2011) 671 (English only) and its summary SEC(2011) 672 (in 22 languages).


Digital Agenda Assembly

The Digital Agenda Assembly 16 June 2011 dedicated a session to interoperability and standards.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Just ahead of the Commission's Digital Agenda for Europe, the trade association for the European information technology, consumer electronics and telecommunications sectors, DigitalEurope, published its Vision 2020: A transformational agenda for the digital age. - The Vision 2020 White Paper is available in English, French and German.

Digital Single Market in Digital Agenda for Europe

In the blog post 'Worth remembering: EU Digital Agenda launch' we looked at the press release and the two memos relating to the original communication A Digital Agenda for Europe; 19 May 2010 COM(2010) 245.

Earlier, including the 5 May 2010 resolution by the European Parliament, the perspective had been until 2015, but when the Digital Agenda was integrated into the Europe 2020 (EU2020)strategy framework, as one of the seven flagship initiatives, the timeline either changed or was silently toned down.

We noted some early reactions to the Digital Agenda, as well as the progress report on the single European communications market in 2009 COM(2010) 253 in Grahnlaw blog posts.

Some readers may still be interested in Europe's Digital Competitiveness Report 2010 (196 pages), which offers a systematic view of the challenges and the relative strengths of the EU member states at the time.


Digital Agenda replaced

The original communication was later replaced. The corrected version is available in the official languages of the European Union. The communication in English:

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

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
A Digital Agenda for Europe; Brussels, 26.8.2010 COM(2010) 245 final/2 (41 pages)


Even when anachronistic, it feels more natural to use the replacing version as our reference.


Introduction

Yesterday, I looked at the framework and problems presented in the Introduction of the communication (in Swedish).

The Table of contents offers us an overview of the issues of the Digital Agenda:

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

Digital Single Market

The second chapter of the communication offered sections on the action areas of the Digital Agenda. First came the challenge of the Digital Single Market (section 2.1.), from page 7 to 14.

The communication noted that the Internet is borderless, but the European online markets highly fragmented. Consequently, the EU is falling behind in terms of offer to consumers and business models able to create jobs (page 7):

The single market therefore needs a fundamental update to bring it into the internet era.

The proposed actions at headline level, but with obstacles described as well as key actions and other actions outlined in the text:

Opening up access to content
Making online and cross border transactions straightforward
Building digital confidence
Reinforcing the single market for telecommunications services

Citizens, consumers and businesses need to press for pan-European rules and practices in order to turn the free movement of (digital) services into a reality, the Digital Single Market.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. The global trade association, the Business Software Alliance BSA, regretted that the communication on the Digital Agenda did not go further to protect the backbone of technology innovation in Europe with stronger measures on intellectual property (IP) rights.

Granada Ministerial Declaration on the European Digital Agenda

Yesterday, we returned to the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the blog post Spain and ICT industry towards Digital Agenda for Europe (2010). The blog post recounted the key themes of the European level trade associations for the information and communication technology businesses:

Industry Partnership Contribution to the Spanish Presidency Digital Europe Strategy - Recommendations of the European Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry to the Spanish Presidency of the European Union


Granada Declaration

The Spanish presidency lent its prestige to the new digital strategy being prepared, by arranging an informal meeting of EU ministers in Granada. The visible outcome of the ministerial meeting was the Granada Declaration:

Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union: Granada Ministerial Declaration on the European Digital Agenda (19 April 2010)

At this point, the communication from the Commission about the Europe 2020 strategy, 3.3.2010 COM(2010) 2020, had already been published.

After recalling the importance and potential of information and communications technologies, the four-page Granada Declaration set a number of guidelines in 29 paragraphs under the following headings:

Infrastructures
Advanced use of the open internet, security and trust
Digital User Rights
Digital Single Market
Public Digital Services
Strengthening the Competitiveness of Europe's ICT sector
International dimension of the Digital Agenda
Measuring progress

The Spanish government (La Moncloa) hailed the informal meeting of EU telecommunications and information society ministers, held from 18 to 20 April 2010 in the Andalusian city of Granada, as the most important event for the Spanish presidency in terms of the information society.

The European Commission issued a memo: Digital Agenda: Kroes welcomes Ministerial support (19 April 2010 MEMO/10/137).

Kroes rated the Granada Declaration as "a milestone, a crucial building block for a truly European Digital Agenda".

She promised that the Ministerial Declaration will be taken into account by the Commission in its forthcoming Communication on a European Digital Agenda, one of the pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (see IP/10/225 about EU2020 communication).

Microsoft Europe, through John Vassallo, issued a statement on the Granada declaration (4 May 2010), where the company encouraged the Commission to seek consistent interoperability practices across industry.



Ralf Grahn

P.S. The Next Web TNW reports that Nokia’s “Sea Ray” Windows Phone prototype emerges in a video. Light at the end of the tunnel for Nokia and Microsoft cooperation in the mobile world?

A Green Knowledge Society (Digital Agenda)

After the EU Digital Agenda public consultation 2009 we turn to some of the preparatory work done by the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second semester of 2009.

The Visby Information Society Conference 9 to 10 November 2009 left us the Visby Declaration about the policy issues for a new ICT agenda for the EU.

After some introductory remarks, the Visby Declaration attempted to outline consensus views towards a European knowledge society, in 17 distinct paragraphs.

Some of the issues are discussed in the Grahnlaw blog post: Swedish presidency and EU Commission: preparing Digital Agenda (24 December 2009), although many of the links are now broken.


Green Knowledge Society

For the Visby Conference, the Swedish government had prepared an interesting policy report, luckily still accessible:

Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union: A Green Knowledge Society – An ICT policy agenda to 2015 for Europe's future knowledge society (September 2009; 63 pages)

The report is in English, but the Executive Summary is available in French and Swedish as well.

In the foreword, the Swedish minister for communications Åsa Torstensson upped the ante:

Can we expect structural change and radical transformation to be smooth and painless? I think not. History abounds with examples of dramatic change that brought costs for a few but great gains for many more.

The report defined ten policy areas for an overall policy framework for information and communication technologies (ICTs), each area discussed in detail together with policy goals and policy actions up to 2015. See Executive Summary (EN FR SW):

1. The knowledge economy: driver of future wealth
2. The knowledge society: participation for all
3. Green ICT: support for an eco-efficient economy
4. Next generation infrastructure: balancing investment with competition
5. Soft infrastructure: investing in social capital
6. SMEs and ICT: supporting Europe’s small enterprises
7. A single information market: enabling cohesion and growth
8. Revolutionising eGovernment: rethinking delivery of public services
9. Online trust: a safe and secure digital world
10. Clear leadership: rethinking the EU’s policy making process

Key aspects

The report summed up three key aspects to the Green Knowledge Society:

 Economic – a knowledge economy is the way forward for a competitive European economy to generate sustainable growth and employment through innovation and to enable social and environmental goals to be pursued. Investment in ICT in support of Green Knowledge Society goals would additionally provide a much-needed short-term economic boost.

 Societal – a knowledge society is an inclusive society in which everyone should be able to participate, including those less able, so that this entry becomes part of basic human rights. It is the power of individuals acting in concert that drives innovation.

 Environmental – the Green Knowledge Society is a sustainable society so that growing use of ICT must support an eco-efficient economy. It has overtones in the economy, specifically with use of sustainability to drive new products, processes and industry sectors, highlighted by several interviewees as a ‘Green New Deal’ for Europe.

Hopefully, you find the issues covered enticing enough to study the Green Knowledge Society report on your own and to discuss the issues with other interested Europeans.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Visit the museum and art treasures of Europe at the multilingual Europeana web portal, which enables us to explore the digital resources of Europe's museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections – more than 15 million items from 1500 institutions.

Building the EU Digital Agenda – Competitiveness Report 2009

The Digital Competitiveness Report 2009 was one of the main building blocks of what became the EU2020 flagship initiative A Digital Agenda for Europe. We return to the communication and some relevant blog posts.

The Digital Competitiveness Report 2009 - COM(2009) 390, mentioned among the Digital Agenda main sources, is available in 22 official EU languages. The English version of the short communication from the Commission:

Europe’s Digital Competitiveness Report - Main achievements of the i2010 strategy 2005-2009; Brussels, 4.8.2009 COM(2009) 390 final


Grahnlaw blog posts

The entry 'European Union's information society and media policies presented' (23 December 2009) took stock of how the first Barroso Commission extolled its virtues regarding the i2010 strategy.

The Grahnlaw blog post 'Information society: EU's i2010 strategy assessed' (23 December 2009) offered a few remarks during the preparatory stage of the new European digital agenda, and it linked to the communication as well as the more detailed accompanying documents SEC(2009) 1060, SEC(2009) 1103 and SEC(2009) 1104.

'EU 2020 strategy and future digital agenda under work' (24 December 2009) focused on the public consultations.

'Swedish presidency and EU Commission: preparing Digital Agenda' (24 December 2009) recorded how main actors had approached the upcoming priority debate at the TTE Council.

One of the milestones passed during the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union, was reflected in the blog entry 'EU Telecommunications Council on post i2010 strategy: Towards a new digital agenda' (25 December 2009), including a reference to the detailed conclusions.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. In the Social Europe Journal, Ulrike Guerot of the ECFR writes about Germany's relationship with the European Union: Re-kindling Berlin's love for Brussels.
For more detailed discussion you can turn to the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) publication: What does Germany think about Europe?
I am reminded of my growing doubts in the May 2009 blog post: And Quiet Flows the Spree – Merkel's Germany in the EU.

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

In the blog post 'Worth remembering: EU Digital Agenda launch' we looked at the press release and the memos relating to the original communication A Digital Agenda for Europe; 19 May 2010 COM(2010) 245, regarding this Europe 2020 (EU2020) flagship initiative.

However, the original communication was later replaced. The corrected version is available in the official languages of the European Union. The communication in English:

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

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
A Digital Agenda for Europe; Brussels, 26.8.2010 COM(2010) 245 final/2 (41 pages)



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Digital technology development tests the rules applicable to (new) media. MediaLaws deals with law and policy of the media in a comparative perspective.