QUESTION PRESENTED:On January 26, the European Commission proposed to the European Parliament and the EU Council to sign up a declaration on digital principles and rights that will guide digital transformation in the European Union. These rights and principles aim at protecting EU citizens ordinary lives both when they’re online and/or offline. The following memorandum lays out the outline of the declaration and its multiple purposes. SHORT SUMMARYThe draft declaration covers key rights and principles for the digital transformation, such as placing people and their rights at its centre, supporting solidarity and inclusion, ensuring the freedom of choice online, fostering participation in the digital public space, increasing safety, security, and empowerment of individuals, and promoting the sustainability of the digital future. Such a declaration shall guide policy makers and companies in their dealings with new technologies and the digital transformation and recapitulate a set of rights and freedoms enshrined in the EU’s legal framework as values that all citizens in the EU should enjoy. BACKGROUND, PURPOSE AND VALUESThe EU Declaration on digital rights and principles is grounded in EU institutions initiatives on digital transformation. In March 2021, the Commission laid out its vision for Europe's digital transformation by 2030 in its Communication on the Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade. The declaration is the second pillar of the EU executive’s vision of this Decade .In September 2021, the Commission introduced a robust governance framework to reach the digital targets in the form of a Path to the Digital Decade. The Commission also conducted an open public consultation which showed broad support for European Digital Principles – 8 EU citizens out of 10 consider it useful for the European Union to define and promote a common European vision on digital rights and principles – as well as a special Eurobarometer survey. The EU plans to enact yearly Eurobarometer surveys to collect real-time data on the impact of digital rights and principles on citizens and gauge the public’s perception of the commission and parliament’s actions in the space. The declaration also builds on previous initiatives from the Council including the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment, the Berlin Declaration on Digital Society and Value-based Digital Government, and the Lisbon Declaration – Digital Democracy with a Purpose for a model of digital transformation that strengthens the human dimension of the digital ecosystem with the Digital Single Market as its core. Furthermore, the European Parliament has made several calls for ensuring the full compliance of the Union’s approach to the digital transformation with fundamental rights such as data protection or non-discrimination, and with principles such as technological and net neutrality, and inclusiveness. It has also called for a strengthened protection of users’ rights in the digital environment. Thus, the enactment of a people-first path to digital transformation derives from former European Parliament President David Sassoli’s 2018 decision to promote internet access as an inherent human right, which sparked the creation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The declaration on digital rights and principles covers a broad range of topics including, but not limited to: - people-first digital transformation;- solidarity and inclusion;- connectivity;- digital education and skills;- working conditions;- interactions with algorithms and AI;- fair online environment;- safety and security;- privacy and individual control over data;- sustainability. The proposal moves forward with the intention of curating tangible change across the everyday lives of European citizens by: - improving access to high internet across all socioeconomic classes;- equipping school staff with technology-first training;- streamlining access to public services;- instilling safety-based digital parameters for children;- encouraging intentional screen time and work-life balance;- providing transparent information about the environmental impact of technology;- empowering individual autonomy around personal data storage, usage, and sharing. LEGAL FRAMEWORKThe declaration is rooted in EU law, from the Treaties to the Charter of Fundamental rights but also the case law of the Court of Justice. It builds on the experience of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Promoting and implementing the principles set out in the declaration will be a shared political commitment and responsibility at both Union and Member State level within their respective competences. To make sure the declaration will have concrete effects on the ground, the Commission proposed in September to monitor progress, evaluate gaps and provide recommendations for actions through an annual report on the ‘State of the Digital Decade'. The declaration has a declaratory nature and does not as such affect the content of legal rules or their application. NEXT STEPSThe European Commission invited the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the draft declaration, and to endorse it at the highest level by 2022 summer. CONCLUSIONThe following memorandum addresses the main features of EU declaration on digital rights and principles. Such a declaration does not provide any new rights, as fundamental rights already apply online, from the right to privacy to freedom of expression. Therefore, the intention is to gather all existing rights relevant to the digital age in a single place, establishing a point of reference for the EU’s idea of a digital environment. The declaration, which will have to be co-signed by the European Parliament and Council, is intended to provide a value-based benchmark for policymakers and private actors dealing with digital technologies.
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