Informal dinner on Thursday opens up possibilities for other topics. Last EU summit before national elections for the Austrian Chancellor.
The 28 EU heads of state and government will meet in the Estonian capital of Tallinn on a Friday. The declared aim of the hosting Estonian EU Presidency is to develop a common understanding of a vision for a digital Europe by 2025. Further topics from Brexit to Turkey could be discussed at dinner on Thursday.
The theme of the evening, hosted by President Donald Tusk, to which all 28 EU heads of state, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, are invited, is Europe's future one year after the informal EU summit of Bratislava, when the 27 EU leaders met for the first time after the British Brexit vote.
Topics open
It is completely open as to which topics could be addressed in this context. The heads of state and government could freely speak, said the EU Presidency on Tuesday in Brussels. Observers are expecting the EU reforms of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
For the German chancellor, Angela Merkel it is the first European appearance after the Bundestag election on Sunday, for Chancellor Christian Kern (SPÖ) the last meeting with his EU colleagues before the national elections. Dinner starts at 9 pm in an Art Museum. In order to emphasize the informal character of the event, no press briefings are envisaged.
Digital management
On Friday from 12.00 hrs the actual digital summit will take place in the Cultural Center (Kultuurikatel) of Tallinn. Digitization as a continuous thread for all EU policies is a kind of trademark of the Estonian Council Presidency, the Baltic country which is considered to be well advanced in this area. The summit begins with an address by the Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, followed by two working sessions, one at noon on the role of the governments, a second in the afternoon on the digital economy and about society. In the process, experts are to give jeynote speeches on topics such as cybersecurity.
As an objective, Estonia has set the following pillars: public services are to be offered digitally, the services should be available conveniently and seamlessly for the users and also work trans-nationally. EU governments should understand that cybersecurity is an integral part of any online activity and is indispensable to trust. In addition, the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union wants to take steps to build secure digital identities at the summit.
Anxiety to be suspended
Estonia's Prime Minister, Mr Jüri Ratas, will then summarize the results of the summit, which will be included in the next regular Brussels summit to be held on 19 and 20 October. The final press conference of Ratas, EU Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker and Tusk is scheduled for Friday, 6.15 pm.
The summit is supported by the concern that Europe could fall back on the cyber side of the world. In particular, a delayed introduction of the 5G mobile radio standard could lead to a lag behind the applications. According to diplomats, about 100 million Europeans have never been on the Internet. In the EU there are too few internet platforms and scale-up companies in this area.
Concrete projects such as the introduction of a digital tax are not likely to be further developed at the summit. In this regard, reference was made to the latest EU Commission Communication and the work of the EU Presidency by the end of the year. Estonia is also seen as an opponent of a European legal regulation against hate-posting on the Internet. The self-regulation of Internet companies is already showing an effect, according to the EU Presidency.
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