The European Commission’s 2024 report on the Digital Decade reveals mixed progress among EU countries. While 5G development is strong, gaps in AI investment and skilled workforce training persist.
Europe is falling short in several digital sectors such as fibre deployment, cloud capacity, AI development and training of qualified personnel in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, according to a report commissioned by the EU executive and published today (2 July).
The 2024 State of the Digital Decade Report purports to be a comprehensive review of the achievements and shortcomings of EU member set against 2030 targets set by the Digital Decade Policy Programme (DDPP). The report assesses progress across several key areas including infrastructure, business, skills, and the digitalisation of public services.
“Today’s report clearly shows that we are not on track to reach our targets for the digital transformation in Europe,” stated Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner for Competition and Executive Vice President of the European Commission, presenting the findings.
More on the Digital Decade Policy Programme here.
The report reviews each country’s strategic roadmap for the Digital Decade and proposes actions to improve implementation of these plans. For further details on national roadmaps, see Euronews’ article here.
While not all information has been publicly disclosed by the Member States, the European Commission has provided data based on specific achievement criteria across different sectors. Slovenia stands out as a leader in digitalisation, having met or surpassed its targets, followed by Finland and Luxembourg. By contrast, Czechia and Romania lag behind, with Greece and Bulgaria also near the bottom of the list.
“This year’s report is a call for strengthened action to Member States to be more ambitious,” the European Commission stated in its press release.
Across the board of countries, there are areas where targets are close to being met however, such as in basic digital skills (98%), the deployment of 5G (94%), and Very High Capacity Networks (VHCN), such as optical-fibre networks or electronic communications networks (97%).
Commission recommends investment, implementation and cohesion
The report emphasised the need for increased investment at EU and national levels on digital skills, high-quality connectivity, adoption of AI and data analytics by businesses, semiconductor production, and fostering start-up ecosystems. It also highlighted the importance of implementing EU digital policies such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the AI Act and the EU Digital Identity Regulation.
The disparity between urban and rural areas and across regions in Europe also needs addressing to ensure equitable digital progress, the report said.
By December 2, 2024, each Member State is required to revise and update their national plans to align with the goals set by the European Commission’s Digital Decade Policy Programme. The Commission will monitor the implementation of these updates and assess their effectiveness in the next State of the Digital Decade report in 2025.