Emmanuel Macron presented before the European Parliament his project for the six-month French presidency of the Council of the European Union (PFUE) on January 19, before responding to MEPs. If the digital was not at the heart of the debates, it occupied a significant place in the speech of the President of the Republic.
Digital, “second challenge of the century” for the European Union
Facing the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, Emmanuel Macron pleaded to find ” a Europe with a powerful future, i.e. a Europe able to respond to climatic, technological and digital challenges, as well as geopolitics “.
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In a speech of about thirty minutes organized around three axes, democracy, progress and security, Emmanuel Macron made the digital revolution the ” second challenge of the century for the European Union, after climate change.
The President of the Republic pleaded for the emergence of a ” true digital single market, creating European champions “. To achieve this, a simplification of European law was mentioned, without further details, and the investment work of the Commission was welcomed.
A reference to the European Chips Act, a regulation which must be presented at the beginning of the year. The text, announced in September 2021 by the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen, must return to the continent part of its sovereignty in the semiconductor sector, currently in the grip of a global shortage. The objective is to double European production of chips, so that it represents 20% of the world’s production in terms of value.
The DMA and the DSA, stakes of the European success of Emmanuel Macron
Secondly, Emmanuel Macron recalled the deadline awaiting Parliament and the Council, the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, which ” will allow us to protect our digital players and others against sometimes disloyal champions, but also to protect our citizens and the democratic debate “. The DMA and the DSA arouse a broad consensus of principle within the Union.
Parliament has yet to vote on the DSA, a vote scheduled for January 20. He will then discuss, with the Council, a compromise, not always easy to find, on the small lines of the two texts. The outcome of the DMA and the DSA during the French presidency of the Council of the European Union is a major issue for Emmanuel Macron, it would represent a strong symbol of the activism of the candidate president against the American digital giants.
The European Parliament must vote on the DSA the day after Emmanuel Macron’s speech. Image: European Parliament
Emmanuel Macron facing his opponents
At the end of Emmanuel Macron’s speech, representatives of the parliamentary groups took the floor. Traditionally, the MEPs of the country at the head of the Council have the primacy of interventions. Unsurprisingly, the exchange turned into a rat race.
Between the German MEP Manfred Weber (EPP) wishing the election of Valérie Pecresse and a ” President Jadot, a slip of the tongue from Emmanuel Macron, turning his back on Parliament to face his probable competitor for the supreme French political office, the stakes of the French presidential campaign dominated the interventions. To the chagrin of some MEPs and the brand new President of Parliament, the Maltese Roberta Metsola, widely targeted for her anti-abortion positions.
What about the status of digital platform workers?
Manon Aubry, elected representative of France Insoumise, nevertheless challenged Emmanuel Macron on a Commission proposal on digital platform workers. She blamed the French president for “ delay the directive on uberized workers “.
During his first speech presenting the program for the PFUE, on December 9, Emmanuel Macron did not mention this directive. An absence noticed by observers wondering about France’s desire to postpone the adoption of the text.
The President of the Republic briefly mentioned it at the start of his speech, in a list of measures envisaged for the rights of employees. He said it was “not Not just words or promises, these are texts that will arrive in the coming weeks in our collective hands and that I hope we can bring to fruition during this semester.“.
If the text seems to be on France’s agenda for the Council, it could be very different from the text wanted by the Commission. Emmanuel Macron and his government have pleaded for more rights for workers on digital platforms, but are hostile to the presumption of employment proposed by the Commission.
The content of the text during its presentation will be scrutinized closely. This remains the main question mark over the digital ambitions of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.