Zaragoza Statement: promoting the digital agenda at the Conference on the Future of Europe

The Aragonese Council and the Spanish Federal Council of the European Movement met at the Infanta Palace in the Ibercaja Foundation in Zaragoza to advance the promotion of the digital agenda for the Conference on the Future of Europe, with the support of the Ibercaja Foundation, the Government of Aragon, Europe Direct Aragon and Zaragoza City Council.

In this sense, it was proposed that the European Union should invest funds not only in digitalisation but also in educational plans at all levels (from primary to adult education) that will enable the acquisition of tools for the good use of technologies and a clear analytical capacity with which users are protected against disinformation and over-information.

The meeting noted that digital transformation is not a goal, but a process to be implemented by the European Union and its Member States. It was also pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the technological revolution and the digitalisation of European and global society by standardising teleworking and distance learning

The digital push is an opportunity for the public and private spheres to bring citizens closer together despite physical distance, the European Movement Councils stressed. Whereas digitalisation also brings with it a number of risks linked to cybercrime and cyberthreats.

They also pointed to the need to digitise the entire population, avoiding a widening of the digital divide in terms of generation, use and access.

On the other hand, the importance of the Recovery Plan and the New Generations Fund of the European Union, which dedicates 30% of its funds to public-private digitisation as a lever for the digital impulse, was highlighted.

The new European Chip Act and the EU's regulatory capacity to influence the international scene through data protection legislation and the establishment of cookies were also underlined.

The Federal Council of the European Movement also proposed that the Recovery Fund and the Next Generation Fund should be applied by local and regional administrations to promote digitisation by bringing digital infrastructures to rural areas. It was also proposed that the digitalisation drive should "leave no one behind", avoiding the generation gap that can occur. This will require investment in digital education at all levels, with special emphasis on the education of non-digital natives.

The European Movement also pointed out the need for European universities to go public, including academics and historians, thereby creating a public debate on the opportunities and challenges of technology that establishes a social critique.

At the Zaragoza meeting, they also proposed that digitalisation should be a tool used to create opportunities in rural areas to slow down and/or reverse the phenomenon of depopulation, and that the procedure for the incorporation of depopulated areas or areas at risk of depopulation, with a population density of less than 12.5 inhabitants, should continue, allowing the granting of specific direct aid to companies that settle in rural areas, promoting the labour market.

It was also proposed that the Social Pillar be regulated to incorporate the risks that digitalisation may bring, including the new aspects of reconciling telework and family life; that in the process of negotiating and approving the European Health Union, account be taken not only of the universalisation of healthcare but also of the need to combine face-to-face and telematic care, always in favour of the patient; that the digitisation of public administration should accompany the citizen so that European citizens can use digital media in a simple and efficient way; and that the European Union and national, regional and local administrations should provide the population with the means and infrastructure to access digitisation, especially in the educational, employment and social spheres.

The European Movement also indicated that the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has served as a new impetus for the Conference on the Future of Europe.