The Telecommunications Council held on 3 December unanimously supported the general approach on the Directive on measures for high common level of cybersecurity across the Union and thus agreed to the launch of the trilogue process.
The Council reviewed the progress on the regulation establishing harmonized rules for artificial intelligence (AI), the regulation on the framework for a European Digital Identity and the decision on the Path to the Digital Decade. Numerous ministers welcomed the work done by the Presidency and stressed the need for future regulation not to hamper innovation or increase administrative burdens.
The Presidency briefed ministers on the successful conclusion of negotiations with the European Parliament on the data governance act and on the state of play of negotiations on a roaming regulation, as well as the progress made on the ePrivacy regulation. Several ministers expressed its views, stressing the importance of concluding negotiations with the European Parliament by the end of this year and highlighting the issues still to be resolved.
Ministers held an exchange of views on digital rights and principles. It was emphasized that the future interinstitutional declaration should reflect common EU values and the principle that the online environment is subject to the same fundamental rights as the offline world. Hungary and a number of other speakers emphasized the need to take into account existing international fundamental rights declarations and agreements when drafting the declaration.
