EU Affairs
For Finland's technology sector, von der Leyen’s second term presents both opportunities and challenges. Key themes for Technology Industries of Finland (TIF) are data and AI, competitiveness, the green transition and "Social Europe".
The political landscape in the EU has shifted following the 2024 elections, yet continuity is evident in Ursula von der Leyen's re-election as President of the European Commission. On 18 July 2024, von der Leyen outlined her Political Guidelines for 2024-2029. These will be shaped into more concrete policy and legislative in the Commission’s Work Programme, anticipated by the end of the year.
For Finland's technology sector, von der Leyen’s second term offers both opportunities and challenges. Promising less and more efficiently prepared regulation, investments to enhance green transitions and technological leadership, energy resilience, and a revamped R&D policy giving businesses a greater role. On the downside, the guidelines lack the desired improvements in the single market's functionality and limitations on state aid. Instead, state aid is likely to play a more significant role in supporting common EU objectives through an expanded use of IPCEI projects.
TIF advocacy will focus on the "three I's":
- Implementation: Ensuring consistent enforcement of laws passed during the recent regulatory wave to support market development.
- Innovation: Innovation policy should be shifted to be business-driven; innovation subsidies should support private investments in research.
- Investment: Public investment, particularly in technology developments and energy networks, must stimulate private sector investments and target projects selected based on excellence and impact.
Key Themes for Technology Industries of Finland:
Data and AI
Von der Leyen’s guidelines place strong emphasis on increasing productivity through data and AI, building on the previous commission’s regulatory framework. Key goals include establishing clear procedures for utilising data sets, including personal data, to serve business development. This will be advanced through the European Data Union Strategy, which aims to create unified, cross-border data markets across the EU.
Competitiveness
Von der Leyen emphasises that this Commission will be an investment commission. Investments will be driven through one of the first hundred-day projects, the Clean Industrial Deal, focusing on the green transition, clean technologies, and energy networks, as well as through a new Competitiveness Fund aimed at strategic technologies. The Competitiveness Fund will most likely be linked to IPCEI projects, meaning that the Commission's goal would be to combine EU-level funding with state aid. A significant exercise can be expected to draft a list of strategic technologies followed by one for new IPCEI projects.
Green Transition
For the past five years, the Green Deal has been the Commission's flagship initiative. While the narrative has shifted, the direction remains the same. The focus, however, is now on a just transition and investments. The guidelines commit to a 90% emissions reduction target by 2040. The key initiative for the technology industry will be the Clean Industrial Deal, under which the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act will operate. A central goal for the technology industry is to ensure that investments are directed towards the most efficient and impactful technologies and projects. There is, to some extent, a sense of a rescue package in the program papers.
Social Europe
Von der Leyen’s guidelines stress a robust social Europe, notably improving the status of women and youth in the workplace. Special attention is given to the use of AI and data in the work environment, ensuring regulation balances employee rights with the effective utilisation of technology. The AI in the workplace regulatory project will be pivotal in the coming term. It will be vital, however, to ensure it does not stifle the use of data and AI within companies.
Lindell Miia
Senior Advisor, EU Affairs and Executive Support Technology Industries of Finland
Koskela Akseli
Deputy Director, EU Regulation Technology Industries of Finland