European digital single market – a priority of Council Presidency conference

eu2018at – Constructive exchange on the digital single market and the implementation of the Tallinn Ministerial declaration

At the High Level Conference on Digital and E-Government which took place on 26 September 2018 in Vienna, ministers and high‑level expert officials had a constructive exchange on elementary e-government and digitalisation issues.

“Our trio presidency with Estonia and Bulgaria offers ideal conditions to take decisive steps towards a digital single market in Europe. When deciding on the priorities of its presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Austrian Federal Government committed to step up efforts accordingly. In Austria, we also want to make the best possible use of the potential the digital single market offers. The roaming directive or the regulation on the Single Digital Gateway, which will be adopted during the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, are examples which show that we can create benefits for all users and thereby dismantle barriers impeding use in the European Union“, said Margarete Schramböck, Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, in the margins of the conference.

The conference, which took place under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was a suitable setting to discuss at ministerial level the challenges but also the next steps regarding the European digital single market. Another important topic of discussion at the conference was the implementation in the individual member states of the 2017 Tallinn e‑government ministerial declaration. Highly interesting solutions were found. Sweden, for example, presented an innovative blockchain solution for land registry transactions and Slovenia showed the latest ideas in the area of big data.

“Our aim was to present practical best practices from the different member states in order to make the implementation of the Tallinn e‑government ministerial declaration pro‑active and innovative for all parties. I am very pleased that we could present examples of administrative innovation. This way we can make a positive contribution to the implementation of the ministerial declaration. Today, our aim to position administrations as an driver for innovation has been demonstrated once more", the Federal Minister said.

In October 2017, the Tallinn e-government ministerial declaration was signed by all EU and EEA member states under the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The previous e-government ministerial declaration was signed in Malmö in 2009. On the one hand it contains sustainable elements such as the commitment to follow-up the e-government action plan of the European Union. On the other hand it includes a number of topical  voluntary commitments made by members states such as the right to electronic communication with authorities. In addition it includes concrete demands directed at the European Commission, for instance, that the Commission should step up efforts regarding open source solutions for EU-funds. More detailed information on the Tallinn e-government ministerial declaration can be found at: https://www.eu2017.ee/political-meetings/ministerial-egovernment-conference

More information about this event can be found on the event page.