María González Veracruz and Carme Artigas co-chair the last Telecommunications Council of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council

The last Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council during the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union was held today in Brussels and was co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, María González Veracruz, and the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas.

During the day, the ministers of the European Union adopted the general orientation on measures to reduce the cost of network deployment around the Gigabit Infrastructure Regulation (GIA) and there has been a lot of discussion on how to ensure the sustainability of the sector and achieve globally competitive digital infrastructure investments that favour European digital sovereignty over the next decade.

In this regard, the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures has stressed that the approval of the general orientation around the GIA, which involves the start-up of trialogues, is a "very important step to accelerate the deployment of ultra-fast broadband infrastructures throughout the European Union." EU”.

He has also advocated to continue strengthening public-private collaboration to promote these infrastructures, “accelerating the investments that are necessary and exploring the different needs in their financing that guarantee the sustainability of the sector. An issue that Spain is leading with the guarantee of being one of the countries with the greatest advance of digital infrastructures in a Europe that is consolidating its digital sovereignty”.

González Veracruz has been satisfied with the work done during the Spanish Presidency, in the various events held and in the two Councils of Ministers. “Both in the Informal Council in León and in the one held today we have created the necessary spaces for a relevant political debate on the future of telecommunications in Europe. This momentum has allowed meeting points and advances in the positions of the different countries, bringing closer the possibility of reaching agreements in such a complex debate that is affected by geopolitical tensions.”

Advances in digitization

In the field of digitisation, ministers have addressed several legislative proposals such as the cybersecurity law, which establishes measures to strengthen solidarity and capabilities in the field of cybersecurity. EU to detect, prepare for and respond to cybersecurity threats and incidents. During the working session, other issues such as the regulation of cyber solidarity and cyber resilience have also been discussed, on which an agreement has been reached in recent days.

The Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas, has highlighted the work done on the Artificial Intelligence Law and has expressed her confidence to successfully conclude the work in this Wednesday’s trialogue. “We are excited about the possibility of closing the law before the end of the Spanish Presidency, so that next year we will already have the law working for everyone, boosting innovation and the technological ecosystem in Europe,” he said on arrival at the Council.

In addition, Artigas has reviewed other milestones achieved in the field of digitalization during the Spanish presidency, such as the presentation of key statements to continue moving towards a digitally competitive Europe. During these months, statements have been presented on Ethical Neurotechnologies, Convergence in AI between Europe and Latin America, the Impulse to startups and scaleups in Europe and Data.

On behalf of the newly constituted Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Secretaries of State have passed the witness to the Belgian colleagues who will assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the next semester and in which, predictably, some legislative dossiers promoted in the Spanish Presidency will be closed.