Make or break: EU stresses digital commitment in first ever conference for the Eastern Partnership

The first ever Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership took place on 27 September, gathering almost 300 senior officials from the Eastern partner countries and the EU, as well as key public and private sector stakeholders in the digital transition. The Conference was organised by the EU4Digital Facility.

The EU has set the digital transition at the heart of its renewed agenda for recovery, resilience and reform in the Eastern Partnership, with ambitious targets in the areas of connectivity, eGovernance, skills and innovation, and cyber resilience.

Senior officials from the European Commission all stressed the EU’s commitment to the digital transformation of the region, especially in the wake of the pandemic.

“Digital is a make or break issue,” said Mathieu Bousquet,Head of Unit for ‘An economy that works for people, green, digital and connected’ at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, adding that EU4Digital’s activities were now “reaching a level of maturity and producing tangible results” in the area of telecoms, trust and security, eTrade, ICT innovation, eHealth and eGovernance. 

Experts from EU4Digital highlighted some of these achievements, while looking ahead to the targets set by the EU for the region, including a 50% increase in eCommerce between the EU and the Eastern partner countries and how to digitally empower 1 million citizens of the region.

Find out more

Press release – Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership

Press release – Policy event on EU post-2020 EaP priorities