If you are in Brussels: digital Moules frites

The EU's standard-setting power really affects all the areas in which IT and telecom companies work. It is therefore in the nature of things that we must take Brussels to Stockholm to promote the industry's interests at home. For this reason, for the next nine weeks I will be working from a desk at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's office in Brussels. The ears and spearhead of IT&Telecom companies in Europe!

However, you don't have to be here for long to realize that, despite all the rhetoric, digitization is not one of the European Commission's top priorities. And if we talk about my main area of welfare technology, we end up even further down the priority list - like the Belgian mussels at the bottom of the moules bowl.

But fortunately, it is now the same for the European Commissioners as for all of us; when someone takes a clam out of the bowl, the original order of clams changes and suddenly a digitalization/welfare technology clam may be taken up for the next bite by pure coincidence.

This is exactly what happened the day before yesterday, when the Commission actually proposed that Member States now increase cooperation on medical technologies. It is hoped that this small window of opportunity - once opened - will allow effective and innovative medical devices to reach patients faster in all EU countries. The increased cooperation within the EU on health technology assessment will also promote innovation and improve the competitiveness of the medical technology industry.

A step in the right direction but still too small. The whole area of welfare technology, rather than a single mussel in the bowl, should be a clear focus area in light of our growing proportion of elderly and multi-sick people combined with a lack of skills and resources. It is probably too much to expect me to convince the whole of Brussels of this in nine weeks, but I will do what I can to at least better understand how we can influence the whole soup and the cooks who stir it.