HomeInsightsEuropean Commission publishes White Paper White Paper on Artificial Intelligence and a Communication on a European strategy for data

The Commission says that the two documents reveal its ideas and actions for “a digital transformation that works for all, reflecting the best of Europe: open, fair, diverse, democratic and confident”.

The Commission says that digital technologies, if used with purpose, will benefit citizens and businesses in many ways. Over the next five years, it will focus on three key objectives: (i) technology that works for people; (ii) a fair and competitive economy; and (iii) an open, democratic and sustainable society.

In the Commission’s view, new policies and frameworks will enable Europe to deploy cutting-edge digital technologies and strengthen its cyber security capacities. Europe will continue to preserve its open, democratic and sustainable society and digital tools can support these principles. It will develop and pursue its own path to become a globally competitive, value-based and inclusive digital economy and society, while continuing to be an open but rules-based market, and to work closely with its international partners.

As for Artificial Intelligence, the Commission says that Europe has “all it needs to become a world leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that can be safely used and applied”. In its White Paper, the Commission envisages a framework for trustworthy AI, based on excellence and trust. In partnership with the private and the public sector, the aim is to mobilise resources along the entire value chain and to create the right incentives to accelerate deployment of AI, including by smaller and medium-sized enterprises. This includes working with Member States and the research community, to attract and keep talent. Building trust is essential and clear rules need to address high-risk AI systems without putting too much burden on less risky ones. Strict EU rules for consumer protection, to address unfair commercial practices and to protect personal data and privacy, continue to apply.

For high-risk areas, such as health, policing, and transport, AI systems must be transparent, traceable and guarantee human oversight. Authorities should be able to test and certify the data used by algorithms as they check cosmetics, cars or toys. Unbiased data is needed to train high-risk systems to perform properly, and to ensure respect of fundamental rights, in particular non-discrimination. For lower risk AI applications, the Commission envisages a voluntary labelling scheme if they apply higher standards.

The Commission also says that Europe has everything it takes to become a leader in the new data economy. The objective of the European data strategy is to make sure the EU becomes a role model and a leader for a society empowered by data. For this, it aims at setting up a true European data space, a single market for data, to unlock unused data, allowing it to flow freely within the EU and across sectors for the benefit of businesses, researchers and public administrations. Citizens, businesses and organisations should be empowered to make better decisions based on insights gleaned from non-personal data. That data should be available to all, whether public or private, start-up or giant.

To achieve this, the Commission wants to establish a regulatory framework regarding data governance, access and re-use between businesses, between businesses and government, and within administrations. This entails creating incentives for data sharing, establishing practical, fair and clear rules on data access and use, which comply with European values and rights such as personal data protection, consumer protection and competition rules. It also means making public sector data more widely available by opening up high-value datasets across the EU and allowing their re-use to innovate on top.

The Commission also wants to support the development of technological systems and the next generation of infrastructure. It will contribute to investments in European High Impact projects on European data spaces and trustworthy and energy efficient cloud infrastructures.

Finally, the Commission will launch sectoral-specific plans to build European data spaces in, for instance, industrial manufacturing, the green deal, mobility or health.

Later this year, the Commission will publish a Digital Services Act and a European Democracy Action Plan, propose a review of the eIDAS regulation, and strengthen cyber security by developing a Joint Cyber Unit. Europe will also continue to build alliances with global partners, leveraging its regulatory power, capacity building, diplomacy and finance to promote the European digitalisation model.

The White Paper on Artificial Intelligence is open for public consultation until 19 May 2020. The Commission is also gathering feedback on its data strategy. To read the Commission’s press release in full and for links to the White Paper and to the Communication, click here