European digital decade and business: initiatives and perspectives

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Recent study titled “Digital decade – 2025: Digitalization of business in the EU member states” provides a structured analysis of the member states’ efforts in supporting business digitalization, in line with the EU digital decade targets and with a particular focus on AI strategies. The 2025-report highlights main structural challenges as well as new aspects in corporate development of vital concern to business and industry. 

Background
The study has been arranged by the European Commission to reveal the EU-27 country reports, covering national and regional strategies, policy initiatives, digital performance indicators as well as challenges and opportunities for accelerating digital transformation in corporate activities.
Thus, the countries’ reports assess progress along six main dimensions: AI adoption, cloud and data analytics uptake, support for scale-ups and unicorns, digitalization of SMEs and late adopters, green digitalization, and cybersecurity. Besides, the reports identify key policy actions, such as national AI strategies, funding programs, digital skills initiatives, the role of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and other EU-wide initiatives. National reports also present good practices and tailored recommendations to improve digital readiness.
The main background in the EU-wide growth is the optimal structural reforms in the member states to bolster and integrate national and the EU-wide single markets, ensuring technological and economic sovereignty. These reforms aim to enhance the sovereignty and security of EU technologies and infrastructures, particularly in the realms of connectivity and public service delivery. The EU is actively pursuing these goals through upcoming measures such as the Digital Networks Act, the Quantum Strategy, as well as the Cloud and AI Development Act.

The EU digital decade
The Digital Decade refers to the European Union’s vision and policy framework for advancing digital transformation among its member states by 2030. It aims to ensure that Europe becomes more digitally sovereign, competitive and inclusive in the global digital economy. At its core there are four key goals: 1. Digital Skills: by 2030, at least 80% of adults should possess basic digital skills, empowering citizens to participate fully in the digital economy and society. This
includes everything from online literacy to advanced tech competencies, reducing the digital divide. 2. Secure and sustainable digital infrastructure: the EU aims for 100% gigabit broadband coverage and 5G connectivity in all populated areas, ensuring fast and reliable internet access for businesses and individuals. Such infrastructure supports emerging technologies like AI, IoT and smart cities while aligning with climate goals through energy-efficient networks. 3. Business digitalization: the plan targets 75% of EU companies adopting advanced technologies like cloud
computing, AI, and big data, while boosting productivity and innovation. Additionally, 90% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should reach at least a basic level of digital maturity, helping them compete globally. 4. Digital public services: national governments must
modernize 100% of key public services available online (e.g., taxes and permits) and 100% of citizens having access to their electronic health records. This shift improves efficiency, transparency and accessibility while reducing bureaucracy.
The EU Digital Decade Policy Program (EUDDPP) sets an ambitious roadmap to
transform the EU-27 into a digitally empowered economy and society by 2030. It is notable that one of the main pillars of the program is the digital transformation of businesses, framed by explicit targets for the adoption of advanced technologies, the growth of innovative enterprises and the integration of digital tools among SMEs.
Hence, the Study on Digitalization of Business in the EU member states*) presents a comparative assessment of how the EU states are progressing towards these targets, evaluating the effectiveness of policy measures, mapping common challenges and identifying promising good practices that can inform future actions.
*) Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-decade-2025-digitalisation-business-eu-member-states

The report’s composition
The first section of the “digital report-25” examines the perceptions and expectations about the future use of digital technologies in daily life. It explores whether digitalization is viewed as beneficial or challenging and assesses the anticipated importance of digital tools by 2030 in areas like private life, education, work and healthcare. Additionally, it identifies which developments, such as improved infrastructure, accessibility, and/or digital skills, which are deemed most crucial for facilitating digital transformation.
The second part of the report focuses on public support for the EU’s Digital Decade policy key objectives. It evaluates which digital actions citizens believe should be prioritized by the national public authorities and governance to ensure that Europe’s digital future is inclusive, secure and aligned with European values. This includes perspectives on digital skills training, digital public services and equitable access to technology.
The third and fourth sections address specific digital challenges affecting individuals’ online experiences, with particular attention to geo-blocking and the protection of minors. Highlighting ongoing barriers consumers face in accessing cross-border content and services and examining concerns about children’s safety online amid increasing exposure to harmful content and digital risks.
Finally, the report delves into the broader issue of digital rights and principles within the EU. It assesses citizens’ awareness of their rights in the digital environment, such as privacy and freedom of expression and evaluates public opinion on the EU’s and national governments’ effectiveness in protecting these rights. This section offers insight into public trust in institutions to uphold a digital environment that reflects core democratic values and safeguards all users.
Source: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/digital-decade-2025-special-eurobarometer

More on the EU Digital Report-25
The 2025 report explores key drivers and challenges, including the current geopolitical paradigm, the rise of generative AI and its impact on the EU-wide competitiveness and energy production. Persistent strategic dependencies threaten the EU’s economic security and technological sovereignty, in particular in the areas of semiconductors, cloud and data infrastructure and cybersecurity technologies. The 2025 report highlights the need to keep people and societies engaged in an increasingly hybrid and complex context.
Although the 2025 report evaluates the updated National Digital Decade Strategic Roadmaps adopted by the EU states in 2023, the present report urges renewed action on digital transformation and technological sovereignty. These issues are analyzed in clusters, defined around their contribution to: – a competitive, sovereign and resilient EU; – protecting and empowering people; – leveraging digital transformation for smart greening; – and harmonizing digital policies and spending.

Structural challenges in the EU and the states
The 2025-report highlights the following structural challenges and new concerns for the corporate activities in the member states:
= 1. Although there are certain advancements, the rollout of connectivity infrastructure, such as fiber and 5G stand-alone networks, is still lagging. Data shows certain improvements in the deployment of edge nodes, allowing for a faster data processing with lower energy consumption. Submarine data cables and satellite systems remain under-developed and vulnerable to external dependencies and security risks.
= 2. Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and big data by companies has improved, however it needs to accelerate. The EU remains dependent on external providers for AI and cloud services – often used in public services – as well as the production of semiconductors and quantum infrastructure components.
= 3. Just over half of Europeans (55.6%) have a basic level of digital skills, which are fundamental for societal resilience to online threats, including those affecting information integrity, mental wellbeing and minors. The availability of ICT specialists with advanced skills remains low and with a stark gender divide, hindering progress in key sectors, such as cybersecurity and AI.
= 4. In 2024, the EU made steady progress in digitalizing key public services. A substantial portion of governmental digital infrastructure continues to depend on service providers outside the EU.
= 5. The EU’s digital future is becoming increasingly dependent on stable energy production. Exponentially rising energy demands, including linked to the growing use of AI, are rapidly outpacing the development of clean and reliable energy supply and grid capacity across the EU. This discrepancy is emerging as a potential significant barrier to the scaling of key digital technologies and delaying the EU’s ability to fully leverage AI and data-driven innovation for economic competitiveness.
= 6. The lack of effective collaboration between the civil sector and the defence sector is causing delays in advancing dual-use digital technologies, such as AI, quantum computing and semiconductors.
= 7. The report-25 highlights also urgent societal challenges linked to digitalization in the EU. While technology advances and the digital transformation process has intensified vulnerabilities and inequalities, especially affecting minors and mental health, a major concern is information integrity, with 88% of Europeans expressing concern about fake news and online manipulation, and 90% seeing the protection of children online as a critical priority. These risks, amplified by AI and online platforms, threaten to undermine democratic integrity, deepen societal polarization and erode public trust.

Bottom line
The report-2025 envisages the mid-pivotal year’s account on accelerating actions to tackle key challenges and boost the EU’s digital transformation. By achieving the Digital Decade’s targets and objectives, the EU member states can unlock substantial economic gains (estimated to reach about two percent of Union’s GDP), safeguard the EU’s sovereignty and ensure that citizens are protected and able to fully benefit from the deployment of digital technologies.
By the end of 2025, the European Central Bank (ECB) will decide on advancement to the next phase of its Digital Euro Pilot: an initiative to introduce a secure public digital currency for the eurozone. This digital euro would function like electronic currency, enabling seamless
everyday transactions while preserving Europe’s monetary sovereignty in an increasingly digital economy. Designed to complement physical currency, it aims to reduce dependence on private payment systems (e.g., credit cards or apps) and ensure that citizens retain access to central bank
money. The ECB is currently conducting preparatory tests (2023–2025) with banks and payment providers to assess technical feasibility, user experience and regulatory impacts.
The reports suggest that the proportion of Europeans who believe that the digitalization of public and private life is making their life easier remains steady at 73 percent (being unchanged since 2024); this indicates continued stability in public sentiment regarding the overall benefits of digital technologies in everyday life.
A significant majority of Europeans expect digital technologies to strongly impact several key areas of their daily life: i.e. specifically, 84 percent anticipate a substantial influence on accessing public services online, and the same proportion foresee that digitalization is playing a major role in connecting with people, friends and family online. Similarly, 80 per cent cite the
importance of digital technologies in accessing and/or receiving healthcare services.

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