White Paper on Artificial Intelligence

The European Commission has launched on February 19 a White Paper on “Artificial Intelligence – A European approach to excellence and trust” which is open for consultation until May 19. This document builds up on existing documents such as the “Report: Artificial Intelligence a European perspective” from 5 December 2018, the “Coordinated Plan on AI” from 7 December 2018, and the “Political guidelines for 2019-2024” launched by the new president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

With this White Paper, the European Commission aims to be at the forefront of the next (industrial) data wave by creating a so-called "ecosystem of excellence" and "ecosystem of trust" to boost the uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and address the risks associated with certain uses of this new technology.

The White Paper on AI outlines Europe’s plans to regulate the Artificial Intelligence sector, adding to and expanding on the Commission’s aims to better prepare Europe for the digital age. Additionally, the White Paper contains the Commission’s framework for a formal regulatory body focused on AI, but doesn’t propose specific rules or laws to be adopted.

Overall, the White Paper recognises the opportunities AI presents to Europe’s digital economy and its different sectors, and presents the Commission’s vision for a coordinated approach to promoting the uptake of AI in the EU and addressing the risks associated with certain uses of AI. 

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Space as an enabler of security and defence, said Internal Market Commissioner

Although it has been a taboo at the European level up to now, the time has come to break this taboo and to recognise that space is an enabler of security and defence, with a defence dimension for Galileo and a security element for Copernicus, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said at the 12th Space Policy Conference in Brussels on 22 January.

In his address at the Conference, the Commissioner stressed that the security and defence element of the space programmes would be strengthened with the progressive launch of two new initiatives – a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) system to monitor space debris, and a Governmental Satellite Communication (GovSatCom) initiative to provide Member States with reliable and secure satellite communication to support police, border protection and civil defence.

These programmes will be partly under the responsibility of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) as its mandate expands with the creation of the new European Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). Speaking at the conference, GSA Chief Operating Officer Pascal Claudel noted that, while some of the elements in the EUSPA mandate had yet to be finalised, the GSA was already preparing to take it up and, in particular, has started preparatory activities for GovSatCom.