Germany might be known for efficiency in some areas, but this does not include the digital realm, as evidenced by less than stellar internet connectivity and a cumbersome residence registration process. But couldn’t the government have tried a bit harder in terms of its latest digitalisation announcements?
Almost a year after the new German government was elected, the digital ministry is finally about to present the final version of its shiny new strategy. Yet, a ‘digital policy Zeitenwende’, as announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz this summer, still feels like a distant promise.
When Volker Wissing, the minister of transport and occasionally also digital affairs, does talk about digitalisation, there is no shortage of hyperboles. From many of his speeches – for instance, at the summer party of the digital association Bitkom in June – it is possible to deduce that he is aware a “digital awakening” is needed in a country infamous for bureaucracy and paperwork.
But Wissing does not seem to be in a hurry, despite climate protection and digitalisation being the loudly-trumpeted twin transitions of Germany and the EU.
When browsing through their coalition agreement – aptly made available online! – it indeed seems that the traffic light coalition aims to make digitalisation a top priority: the term itself can be counted 63 times in the document.
At times, a digitalisation journalist begins to despair when it turns out that the presentation of the digital strategy is to be delayed again. Or when a new draft is still too vague and thinly formulated, without any budget allocations and no clear division of competences between the different ministries dealing with digital issues.
But there is no point in writing articles about big announcements if they are not followed up with action.
By comparison, the Bundestag already debated the “Easter package”, i.e. the bundle of legal initiatives to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies, in May.
“Quality before rashness”, the digital ministry said, as an excuse for delays facing the digital package and the political dithering that some have come to expect from Scholz.
Now, an (almost) final digital strategy draft, which will be presented at the cabinet meeting in Meseberg on 31 August, is making the rounds.
And yes, it can be said that the digital ministry has honed in with its latest draft. The volume has increased from 30 to 50 pages, and the content of many of the projects has become more concrete.
However, it has still not been conclusively clarified which ministries will be responsible for the data institute or how the IT consolidation of the federal government will be managed.
But most disappointing is that the introduction of a digital budget remains concealed. Why? The question of financing will only be clarified in the budget negotiations in the Bundestag this autumn.
Wissing would like to blame the lack of clarity on the all-excusing fact that the war in Ukraine does not loosen the country’s purse strings. Perhaps.
For now, at least, it seems we must keep twiddling our thumbs as we wait for the long-promised digital turnaround, while the prospect of Germany shedding its lacklustre reputation concerning digital matters becomes even more distant.
The Roundup
For more on the latest draft of Berlin’s digital strategy, seen by EURACTIV, read here.
Also in Germany, the government has today approved a 2% gas savings plan, by reducing heating in public buildings and shutting off the lights at night.
Ukraine was “reborn” when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, marking 31 years of his country’s independence from the Moscow-controlled Soviet Union with a vow to drive Russian forces out completely.
Cold winters helped Moscow defeat Napoleon and Hitler. President Vladimir Putin is now betting that sky-rocketing energy prices and possible shortages this winter will persuade Europe to strong arm Ukraine into a truce — on Russia’s terms.
Another dramatic spike in natural gas prices appears to have ended any hopes that Europe’s inflation battle is set to ease, with financial markets now bracing for higher prices, a faster pace of interest rate hikes and a deeper economic downturn.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Algeria will hope to smooth out rocky relations between the two countries, but there is no doubt that it is also an opportunity to secure additional gas supplies amid the ongoing crisis.
In other news, the Czech Presidency seeks to advance the discussion on the Data Act proposal with a compromise on the part related to the possibility of public bodies requesting access to privately held data.
While food prices on the global stage are reportedly decreasing, food affordability remains an issue due to worrying forecasts for the forthcoming sowing season in Ukraine.
European summer crops have been severely affected by drought in recent months with repercussions on yields, according to the latest forecast from the crop monitoring service (MARS) of the European Commission’s research centre.
After taking steps toward decreasing tobacco use in the EU as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the Commission registered a new European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) on the theme on Wednesday.
Look out for…
- High Representative Josep Borrell directs the course ‘Quo Vadis Europa’ at the Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander, Spain
Views are the author’s.
[Edited by Alice Taylor/Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
