Commission mandarin flags convergence of digital with industry

A convergence of digital with industry and green issues sets a poser for the architecture of the next European Commission, according to a book published this week by an aide to one of the EU executive’s most senior officials.

Werner Stengg, who sits in the private office of outgoing Danish Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, presented his publication Digital Policy in the EU – Towards a Human Centred Digital Transformation during Forum Alpbach, the Tyrol-based policy congress.

Stengg traces the rapid transformation of EU digital policy over the past five years, in which the Commission passed landmark new legislation on digital services and markets, following a revolution in consumer-facing online platforms.

But, he argues, the next phase in digital policymaking will be less consumer-focused and more industrial.

“Applying digital technology is what industry needs to do, so we have to make sure that frameworks enable them to do that efficiently and in a trustworthy manner,” Stengg told attendees at the Forum.

With policy areas increasingly overlapping, Stengg pointed to the difficulties of pinpointing where digital issues should lie. 

That will doubtless test Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who needs to decide on portfolios and senior management structures for the next EU executive.

“The architecture of the next Commission remains broadly unknown, but digital, green and industrial policy are increasingly converging, so it’s difficult to create silos and say ‘you are the industrial policy guy’ and ‘you will be the digital commissioner’,” said Stengg, adding that he was confident “von der Leyen will know how to square this circle”.

Prior to his work for Vestager, Stengg headed various Commission teams responsible for e-commerce and online platforms, for postal and public interest services, and for better regulation and economic analysis.