With many key policy initiatives currently in progress, the Spanish Government’s assumption of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July brings with it the opportunity to drive for real change. It will bring these crucial topics to the forefront of Europe’s economic and societal agenda, while stepping up the collective pursuit of the EU’s Digital Decade ambitions.
In particular, we welcome Spain’s ongoing leadership in driving industrial transformation and the move towards a more sustainable future in Europe. At the same time, this will empower and enable strategic industries such as technology and telecommunications, ensuring that investment in critical infrastructure underpins the region’s ambition.
Europe’s future as a competitive digital economy is at a critical juncture. Regulation of the continent’s telecoms sector has not kept pace with technological evolution and the changing market. This, in turn, has impacted investment in the future of Europe’s telecoms infrastructure, risking a ‘managed decline’ in the sector – to the disadvantage of consumers, businesses and the European economy as a whole.
Europe deserves world-class communications networks, enabling it to compete and lead on the world’s digital stage, and provide consumers and businesses alike with the best services. As such, we warmly support the Spanish Presidency in working to re-establish this global leadership. We welcome its promotion – and upholding – of measures such as the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
In addition, we look forward to the Presidency addressing the important questions of how to build world-leading networks, ensuring that the biggest beneficiaries of the digital ecosystem these networks enable make a fair and proportionate contribution to their deployment and maintenance. The GSMA firmly believes this will be to the benefit of every consumer, enterprise and member-state within the European Union.
We look forward to supporting the Presidency in progressing EU telecoms policy during the second half of 2023.
Image source: spanish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/