The Digital Single Market aims to remove national barriers to online transactions, based on the concept of the Common Market, which aims to remove trade barriers between Member States. The concept of the Common Market has evolved into the concept of the Internal Market, which promotes the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital.
The European Commission's policy agenda for the EU Digital Decade 2030 sets ambitious targets for the digitalisation of Europe's economy and society by 2030. The targets focus on key areas such as digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital skills and e-government. They include:
- High-speed internet for all: By 2030, every EU citizen should have access to a high-speed internet network (at least 5G).
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and data: The EU wants to become a global leader in AI. It plans to develop ethical and trustworthy AI systems and increase the use of data in all sectors.
- Cybersecurity: Resilience and protection against cyber threats must be strengthened, with the aim of protecting critical infrastructure and personal data.
- Digital skills: By 2030, 80% of EU adults are expected to have basic digital skills and the number of digital professionals is expected to increase.
- eGovernment and digital services: The European Commission is working towards widespread use of digital public services, such as digital identities and eGovernment services, to be available to all citizens and businesses.
In this context, the EU Digital Compass, which is a strategic framework setting out the guidelines and objectives for the EU's digital transformation up to 2030, contains key orientations including:
- Enhancing digital capacities: Strengthen Europe's digital capacities, in particular in the areas of infrastructure (high-speed internet, 5G), data processing (artificial intelligence) and cloud computing.
- Ethics and trust: The European Union focuses on the ethical use of digital technologies, in particular artificial intelligence, and on ensuring the security and protection of personal data.
- Digital economy: Promoting innovation in industry, business and services through the use of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things) and blockchain.
- Green Transition: Digital transformation must be aligned with the EU's environmental objectives to reduce the carbon footprint of digital technologies.
- Digital Equity: Ensure that all EU citizens have equal access to digital services and have the necessary skills to participate effectively in the digital society.
The European Commission has been monitoring Member States' digital progress through the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) reports since 2014. Since 2023 and in line with the 2030 Digital Decade policy agenda, the DESI is now included in the Digital Decade Status Report. The individual indicators summarising the EU's performance in the four dimensions of the Digital Decade policy agenda - digital skills, digital infrastructure, digitisation of business and digitisation of public services - are presented in the DESI Indicators Dashboard.
For up-to-date news on the Digital Decade 2030 policy agenda and further information, please follow this link.