Digital Europe in Budapest 

Digitaleurope usually organizes meetings for its member associations (such as TechSverige) in the EU Member States that are about to take over the EU Presidency. Accordingly, this spring's National Trade Association Summit was held in Budapest in April.  

The Hungarian Presidency will perhaps not be so significant in terms of what issues are taken forward. After all, there are elections to the European Parliament on June 9 (in Sweden) and then a President of the European Commission and the Commission itself will be in place. This may take some time in the fall. Of course, this did not stop the representatives of industry and employers' organizations in the tech sector from discussing and wishing for things on the EU stage. 

The skills shortage, with some exceptions, was probably at the top of everyone's agenda. Global competition was also discussed. There was of course speculation about how the EP elections would go and who will be part of the new Commission. The digitization policy of the host country Hungary was also presented. Of course, it doesn't take much natural intelligence to conclude that AI was also a big topic. 

Ahead of the European elections, Digitaleurope has also published its own election manifesto entitled Europe 2030: a Digital Powerhouse.

Fredrik Sand
industrial policy expert