Thibaut Kleiner, director of the European Commission’s DG Connect, Future Networks, explores how the EU is working to enhance European digital connectivity and achieve its digital decade goals.
The EU has implemented a wide range of programs and initiatives to boost Europe’s digital infrastructure, with Europe’s goal of becoming the most connected continent by 2030. The EU’s policy on connectivity aims to harmonize connectivity regulations to promote cross-EU services and expand networks.
The main objectives of the EU include expanding and implementing 5G networks, deploying advanced gigabit networks, and research and development into 6G. The innovation platform spoke to Thibaut Kleiner, director of DG Connect, the director of future networks, to explore these goals further, and explore the progress made so far in the EU’s digital connection journey.
What are the short-term goals for the European Connecting Journey?
The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles specifies that “everyone in the EU should have access to high-speed digital connections at an affordable price.” This has been translated into a comprehensive approach to digital connectivity, including fixed networks, submarine cables, satellite communications, and wireless high speed networks.
The 2030 Digital Decade Policy Programme (DDPP) sets a clear target for digital maturation across the EU, including 100% of the population having access to 5G services. At the end of 2024, 5G population compensation was 94.3% across the 27 EU member states, and 79.6% in rural areas. However, there is disparity in member states and more investment is needed as fully standalone 5G is still lacking in many parts of the EU.
Critical EU funding is particularly dedicated to the development of the aggregation and structure of 5G-enabled transport facilities (CEFs), as well as the digital infrastructure of the recovery and recovery facilities (RRFs). These actions are part of a broader strategy that can reduce investment gaps, promote connectivity, strengthen European digital infrastructure, and support technological advances such as long-term goals: artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G networks.
How does the European Commission support research and innovation in directing European connectivity towards 6G?
The European Commission, together with the industry, has established Smart Networks and Services Joint Taking (SNS JU). This is a European public-private partnership funded by the Horizon Europe programme, focusing on 6G research and 5G deployment. This follows years of efforts to promote European leadership in research and innovation on advanced mobile communications, including previous 5G public-private partnerships.
By the end of 2024, SNS JU will invest more than 500 million euros in three invocations of the project, supporting a wide range of 6G technologies and use cases across more than 11 vertical sectors, and aims to improve the excellence of European technology in next-generation connectivity. The total EU budget, which will be committed until the end of the programme, is expected to be €900 million, supplemented by comparable contributions from the industry.
What are the main obstacles to a European trip to 6G? How can you overcome these?
6G is, to some extent, a continuity of past generation mobile technology. So, you can look at the experience of 5G deployment and learn lessons that will be useful for the future of 6G, and there are a series of mistakes to avoid.
For example, industry applications for 5G are being featured more slowly than initially expected, especially in Europe, when compared to other parts of the world. 5G commercial services are currently primarily available in all 27 member countries, but most of these are “basic 5G” rather than more advanced “stand-alone” 5G services. Additionally, current network deployments do not yet use the full spectrum provided by all three Pioneer 5G spectral bands (700 MHz, 3.6 GHz, 26 GHz), and tend to have continuity with 4G, limiting the performance of 5G connections. It also covers the slower deployment of Core 5G networks that support 5G standalone configurations due to lower usage of higher frequencies.
A major obstacle to 6G is that telecom operators resist investing in telecommunications networks without the necessary profit margins to invest before cashing in 5G. In that context, fragmentation of the EU telecom market is often referred to as a barrier to further investment in sophisticated networks. The Commission will unlock further possibilities for the digital single market and will attempt to adapt the EU regulatory framework on telecommunications with its proposal on Digital Network Act (DNA) in early 2026.
Third, new technologies such as AI and cloud computing converge with connectivity that involves the risk that EU connectivity infrastructure and operators will not adapt quickly to this technology and the market landscape. For Europe to become an AI continent and less dependent on foreign providers, it will need to tackle the EU gap in cloud and computing capabilities and invest in the connections needed to connect data centers, edge nodes and cloud services. This is the purpose of the committee’s proposal on Cloud and AI Development Act, which is expected to be early 2026.
Finally, there are other more specific challenges to tackle to clear the pass for 6G deployment in Europe. This includes spectrum allocation, security of increasingly complex networks, and sustainability in the face of exponentially high energy and water consumption associated with digital development.
How do you tackle recovery and resilience issues to support digital transitions?
The recent crisis and tense geopolitical context have reinforced the need to ensure our resilience in order to deal with the rise in threats and predict shocks. The deployment of secure 5G networks across Europe has been a strategic priority of the European Commission for several years now, and the same applies to fixed submarine and satellite networks. This has been translated into security requirements for participation in various EU funding programmes, including Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, CEF, and RRF.
Security in general, and cybersecurity in particular, are increasingly reflected in many areas of economic activity (transportation, energy, finance, etc.), taking into account the widespread use of technology in all these areas, as well as digital communication and technology. This aspect is expected to be prominently characterized by EU law whether it relates to Submarine Cable, 5G/6G, satellite or cloud computing networks.
How important is international cooperation to the EU’s digital connection strategy?
International cooperation is extremely important for global, interconnected technology markets. In particular, global standards are a means to ensure the competitiveness and interoperability of 5G and subsequent 6G networks that require EU cooperation with other regions. Therefore, it is important for players around the world to work to agree to common standards in global standardization development organizations such as 3GPP. The same applies to the selection of spectral bands.
The EU wants to be at the heart of these developments. It has agreed with the US on a joint “6G vision,” focusing on technology challenges and research collaboration. The EU also has digital dialogue with other countries such as Japan and South Korea. This includes cooperation between 6G projects receiving public funds in the EU and other countries. Discussions with key partners such as China, India, Brazil and African countries are also essential in that context.
This article will also be featured in the 23rd edition of Quarterly Publication.
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