Contracting Party: European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Period: 2024
URL: Study to support the monitoring of the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles
Description:
The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles encapsulates the EU’s vision for a digitally transformed world that upholds European values. With its principles and commitments, the Declaration serves as a clear reference framework for people and a guide for both policymakers and companies when dealing with digital technologies. The overall aim of this study is to examine the extent to which the commitments of the Declaration have been implemented in the EU Member States. The data collection included a combination of desk research in all 27 EU Member States, automated web scraping, a stakeholder survey and a validation exercise with Member State authorities. The study report provides an overview of the progress made towards implementing the Declaration’s commitments including 27 country summaries, gaps in implementation and recommendations to further promote the Declaration.
The study shows that there are many initiatives across the EU that are relevant to the Declaration, including initiatives predating it. Several Member States have developed frameworks for the promotion of digital rights and principles in the form of soft law, such as the EU Declaration. However, there are also examples of legal frameworks seeking to embed the principle of human-centric technological development. There are also clear examples of good practice in Member States around the commitments contained in the Declaration that can inspire effective action in other Member States.
Nevertheless, promising routes for applying these commitments include:
- Guidelines produced by public administrations to advise business on how they should interpret aspects of EU or national law to ensure compliance, or to inform consumers on their rights and risks in the online environment;
- Industry Codes of Conduct, which can be binding or voluntary, and may include certification labels for consumers;
- Development and promotion of standards by incorporating them into requirements specification for public procurement;
- Regulatory sandboxes that can form the basis of comparative natural experiments on difficult matters of fundamental rights or ethics;
- Education, through formal programmes or initiatives run by civil rights organisations, is also playing an important role in sensitising consumers, including vulnerable groups to online risks, and in promoting the safe and responsible use of online resources. Examples include a) awards to incentivise responsible innovation in emerging areas such as AI, b) the creation of alternative platforms offering e.g. privacy-friendly features or content moderation.
Notwithstanding many positive examples, gaps remain in many areas, and more should be done to boost the profile of the Declaration and support its implementation at national level, e.g. through regulation. Research also suggests that progress has been uneven across Member States and some commitments, such as ones on sustainability or social responsibility in the digital value chain, seem to have received less attention compared to others.
Furthermore, promotion of the EU Declaration per se at national level seems to be limited. Few Member States report having communicated about the Declaration and fewer report active engagement with civil and digital rights organisations relating to the Declaration. Limited input from national digital and civil rights organisations also indicates that a significant proportion of stakeholders either heard about the Declaration through EU channels or were not aware of its existence. Increasing the profile of the Declaration and fostering better stakeholder engagement could help improve outcomes in the years to come. Going forward, surveys will remain important, as a number of commitments contained in the Declaration are difficult to measure in quantitative terms.
Limited time has passed since the Declaration was published in January 2023. It is therefore too soon to draw conclusions about its effects. Rather, the details in this study can be viewed as a baseline, against which progress can be assessed in the years to come. Based on the above findings, the study develops a set of recommendations that could enhance the implementation of the Declaration and its monitoring in the Member States.