Digital Brief, powered by FACEBOOK: Slovenia’s digital agenda, recovery plans falling short, Google sanctioned

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.    “We want to promote the EU digital agenda, to contribute to its success especially on the regulatory side. We...

Europe’s first digitalised chip plant opens in Dresden

German engineering and technology company Bosch opened a new semiconductor factory, fully networked with 5G mobile technology, in Dresden on Monday (7 June). The production facility was funded with €140 million as part of a joint European project.

France moves to become a nation of ‘large tech companies’

"We were a start-up nation, we are going to become a nation of large technology companies," Economy Minister Bruno le Maire told a conference on Monday (7 June), adding that “France has a vocation to be one of the nations writing the 21st century”. EURACTIV France reports.

Cloud development in Europe passes by GDPR compliance

The two recently approved Codes of Conduct for the cloud industry, which will be open to everyone willing to subscribe, could foster the uptake of a technology at the heart of the digital economy, following a green light from the European Data Protection Board.

Gaia-X cloud infrastructure project close to becoming operational

The European flagship cloud project Gaia-X, which aims to ensure Europe has its own trusted data and cloud infrastructure, came one step closer to becoming operational after the first specification round of the Federation Services was completed on Wednesday. EURACTIV Germany reports.

France launches digital sovereignty observatory

Telecom Paris and Netexplo officially launched the Technologies & Digital Sovereignty observatory on Thursday (20 May), which aims to bring together companies and startups as well as political players. EURACTIV France reports.

EU says it’s ready to invest ‘significant’ funds in chip sector

The EU is ready to commit "significant" funds to expand European semiconductor manufacturing and support its computer chip supply chain, the Commissioner for internal markets, Thierry Breton, said on Thursday (20 May).

French data watchdog president: GDPR sucessfully stood ‘pandemic test’

The EU's flagship data protection regulation, known as the GDPR, has stood the test of the COVID-19 health crisis, the president of French data watchdog CNIL said at the release of the body's annual report for 2020 on Tuesday (18 May). EURACTIV France reports.

Industry must align with the climate neutrality objective

The European Commission's updated industrial strategy continues to set out more and more tools to provide larger and larger sums of money to industry for a vague green and digital transition, but with no framing on how to get there, writes Wendel Trio.

CO2 pricing ‘not enough’ to decarbonise industry, chemical makers say

Despite carbon prices hitting a record-breaking €50 per tonne on Tuesday (4 May), the chemical industry says additional measures are needed to support the transformation to a net-zero economy.

Digital Brief: Digital vulnerabilities, no Horizon for Europe, Trump ban

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.    “The real industrial revolution is starting now – provided we make the right investments in key technologies and set...

EU and French cybersecurity heads call for greater cooperation, extra resources

The heads of the European and French cybersecurity agencies, who spoke to French senators on Thursday morning (6 May), called for more cooperation between EU countries and additional resources, pointing to much higher spending on cybersecurity in the United States.

Breton: Europe was too naive before, now we are in the driving seat

Europe will remain open to everyone but will no longer be naive in the face of the rapidly changing world and will seek to be in the driving seat, Commissioner Thierry Breton told EURACTIV and a group of media ahead of the presentation of the update of the EU's industrial strategy on Wednesday (5 May).

EU sets plan to promote rapid green transition of key industries

The European Union aims to help industries slash greenhouse gas emissions by promoting a rapid expansion of investment in low-carbon technologies, partly through schemes with easier state aid rules, according to a draft policy plan seen by Reuters.

EU’s industry alliances need stricter oversight, say green critics

Ahead of the European Commission’s new industrial strategy proposal, expected on Wednesday (5 May), Friends of the Earth has compiled a report exposing the influence of business associations in shaping policy through industrial alliances.

EU explores chipmaker alliance in search of ‘strategic autonomy’

The European Union is considering creating a semiconductor alliance including STMicroelectronics, NXP, Infineon and ASML to cut dependence on foreign chipmakers amid a global supply chain crunch, four EU officials said.

Huawei eyes opportunity posed by EU semiconductor goals

Telecoms giant Huawei is keen to work alongside European companies to help the bloc achieve ambitious new benchmarks for semiconductors by 2030, as the firm continues to face challenges resulting from US trade restrictions.

COVID response to overshadow climate and industry at EU summit talks

The renewed focus on the COVID-19 crisis and delays with the European vaccination campaign are set to overshadow talks on how to align industrial policy with the EU's climate goals at an EU summit meeting on Thursday (25 March).

Recover today, lead for 2030: A future-fit industrial strategy for Europe

The current political debate on industrial policy lacks an honest acknowledgement of how much is already decided – from EU recovery budgets to the 2030 climate targets, write Sandrine Dixson-Declève and Janez Potočnik. Sandrine Dixson-Declève is the president of The...

France gets green light to use Amazon-hosted Doctolib for jab bookings

The interim relief judge of the French Council of State ruled last Friday (12 March) that the health ministry's decision to integrate medical portal Doctolib, which uses Amazon’s hosting services, into its online booking system for COVID-19 vaccinations did not infringe privacy and personal data protection rights. EURACTIV France reports.

Millions of websites offline after fire at French cloud services firm

A fire at a French cloud services firm has disrupted millions of websites, knocking out government agencies' portals, banks, shops, news websites and taking out a chunk of the .FR web space, according to internet monitors.

French decision to have Microsoft host Health Data Hub still attracts criticism

The French government's decision to have Microsoft host the country's Health Data Hub is causing outrage in the French and European digital ecosystem, it is also worrying data protection advocates. EURACTIV France reports.

Sustainability should be ‘underlying principle‘ of digital policy: German minister

Digital innovations should be used as a tool for environmental protection and climate action, but we must act now, Germany's minister for the environment, Svenja Schulze, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Commission to propose KPIs to measure ‘real’ progress in industrial strategy

The European Commission is working on a series of key performance indicators (KPI) to include in the update of its industrial strategy expected for March, to measure the transformation of European industry and its resilience in the aftermath of the pandemic.