Oettinger – Hahn – Photo EC
(LUXEMBOURG) – The EU Commission hosted a ministerial meeting with Eastern Partnership countries Tuesday with a view to extending the Digital Single Market to its east European neighbours.
The aim is to extend the benefits of the EU’s Digital Single Market to the six Eastern Partnership countries, and possibly to other EU neighbours.
Attending were ministers in charge of the Digital Economy and Society from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and the Slovak Republic for the EU presidency. They continued discussions on deepening their collaboration on digital issues.
“The Digital Community will open new opportunities for citizens and business on both sides through improved digital governance, better connectivity with and across the region, and intensified people to people contacts”, said European Neighbourhood Commissioner Johannes Hahn. “To give a concrete example: we have now a commitment to work towards a harmonised framework for e-commerce, which will allow an online and protected access to goods to consumers across the eastern partnership.”
Once in place, the Digital Community is intended to deepen cooperation between the EU and its eastern European partners in the digital economy and society. The benefits of the Digital Single Market for the neighbouring countries include bringing economic growth, generating jobs, improving people’s lives and helping businesses.
The main item on the agenda at the meeting was the Commission presentation of EU4Digital regional networks which will work on jointly agreed priority topics: telecom rules; ICT research, startups and innovation; digital skills; trust services and e-Identification (eIDAS); cybersecurity and eTrade, which includes eCommerce, eCustoms and eLogistics. These networks, says the Commission, would serve as platforms for sharing best practices and experiences among eastern European partners and with the EU, promoting synergies and developing joint projects.
The EU4Digital networks is due to develop cooperation roadmaps for the period 2017-2019 in their respective thematic areas, focusing on concrete and achievable deliverables, which aim at improving the life of citizens and the competitiveness of businesses. The proposed roadmaps, as well as preliminary achievements, are scheduled to be presented in the 2nd Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, to be held in early summer 2017.
