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Digital Europe Programme - Performance

Programme in a nutshell

Concrete examples of achievements (*)

6 895
participants
followed online Interoperable Europe Academy courses focused on improving the digital skills of civil servants between 2019 and 2022 under the 2016-2020 ISA2 programme and the 2021-2022 DEP.
2 800
digital solutions
were available to governments in 2021-2022 on the ‘Joinup’ platform funded by the DEP, which receives 500 000 visits per year.
1 075
participants
attended the hybrid SEMIC 2022 Conference focused on the implementation of data spaces (1) and funded by the 2021-2022 DEP.
26 194
distinct data validations
were completed in 2022 using the Interoperability Test Bed validator under the 2021-2022 DEP.
2 000
misleading price announcements
were detected with the help of the eLab, which is funded by the 2021-2022 DEP.
16 million
limited-liability EU companies and their cross-border branches
were accessible through the business registers interconnection system by 2021 thanks to CEF Telecom funding.
20
digital service infrastructures fully interoperable across the EU
were promoted thanks to the 2014-2020 CEF Telecom, such as the European digital media observatory, which supports the creation of a collaboration platform among factcheckers and academics tackling online disinformation.

(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Many come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes.

(1) Data spaces are digital environments where different types of data can be shared and used in a secure and controlled way. The idea is to make it easier for people to access and use data, while also protecting the privacy and security of that data. An example is health digital platforms where patients can access their own health data and also share it with doctors and researchers to improve healthcare outcomes and research, while also protecting patient privacy.

 

Budget for 2021-2027

Rationale and design of the programme

The digital Europe programme (DEP) is a new EU funding programme focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and public administrations. It provides strategic funding to face challenges in the area of digital technology and infrastructure, supporting projects in five key capacity areas: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills and the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society, including through digital innovation hubs.

Budget

Budget programming (million EUR) (*):

  2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 Total
Financial programming 1 130.5 1 232.8 1 020.1 835.3 733.0 798.3 887.5 6 637.5
NextGenerationEU                
Decommitments made available again (**) N/A             N/A
Contributions from other countries and entities 30.5 31.3 p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. 61.8
Total 1 161.0 1 264.1 1 020.1 835.3 733.0 798.3 887.5 6 699.3

(*) The Chips act, which will be the future specific objective 6 of the DEP, is not integrated here and will be as soon as adopted.
(**) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.

 

less

Financial programming (*):
- EUR 950.5 million (- 13%)
compared to the legal basis (**)

(*) The Chips act, which will be the future specific objective 6 of the DEP, is not integrated here and will be as soon as adopted.
(**) Top-ups pursuant to Art. 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.

 

The DEP’s original budget is EUR 7.5 billion covering five specific objectives over 2021-2027. From this budget, Digital Europe is reserving EUR 600 million of its budget for the Chips Act, (which the future specific objective 6 of the DEP will support) and in addition is transferring EUR 270 million to the secure connectivity programme.

 

Budget performance – implementation

Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):

  Implementation Budget Implementation rate
Commitments 2 423.4 6 699.3 36.2%
Payments 801.9   12.0%

 

Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR) (1):

  Commitments Payments
  Voted budget implementation Initial voted budget Voted budget implementation Initial voted budget
2021 1 129.1 1 129.6 23.8 104.8
2022 1 232.5 1 247.8 748.3 844.3

(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.

Contribution to horizontal priorities

Green budgeting

Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):

  Implementation Estimates Total contribution % of the 2021–2027 budget
  2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027    
Climate mainstreaming 90.2 55.5 64.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 210.1 3%
Biodiversity mainstreaming 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0%
Clean air 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0%

 

Several actions in the first work programmes are expected to make a contribution to climate mitigation or adaptation. This is mainly the case of the ‘Destination Earth’ initiative, which will develop a very high-precision digital model of the Earth to enable the visualisation, monitoring and forecasting of natural and human activity on the planet. This will allow us to be better prepared to respond to major natural disasters, adapt to climate change and predict its socioeconomic impact. A small number of other actions – such as the Digital Product Passport, an information system that provides data on a product's sustainability and environmental impact throughout its lifecycle, from design to disposal, currently under development and financed by the DEP – are expected to have a non-marginal positive contribution to climate mitigation or adaptation objectives. The work programme for 2024 is subject to an amendment which will establish the budget allocation for each action and which will determine the climate contribution for this year. The climate contributions after 2024 will depend on the actions to be funded in subsequent work programmes.

The programme will deliver digital solutions and contribute to closing the digital skills gap and is not expected to make a direct contribution to biodiversity or clean air. During the implementation of the programme, this ex ante assessment will be revised should specific projects make a tangible contribution to these horizontal priorities that could not be anticipated at the start of the implementation.

 

Gender

Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):

Gender score 2021 2022 Total
0* 1 129.1 1 232.5 2 361.6

(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);

- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.

 

  • In line with the Commission’s methodology to track gender-equality-related expenditure, the programme has been attributed a score of 0*, which means that the programme’s impact on gender will be determined ex post once sufficient information from the programming and implementation phase is available. The contribution from Digital Europe to gender equality in the first set of work programmes may be relevant for the training initiatives to promote advanced digital skills organised under specific objective 4, in line with Article 7 of the digital Europe regulation according to which gender balance should be taken into account. The 2021-2022 work programme states that the specialised education programmes, while mainly focusing on excellence, should also address the gender gap. Should the implementation of the abovementioned actions in specific objective 4 entail a contribution, this will be reflected in the respective programme performance statement.

 

Digital

Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):

  2021 2022 Total % of the total 2021-2027 implementation
Digital contribution 1 159.6 1 263.8 2 423.4 100%

 

  • The full envelope of the DEP contributes to the digital transition. The contribution is thus 100% of the budget committed in a given year.

 

Budget performance – outcomes

  • Implementation is on track, as the procedures to achieve the milestones for the upcoming years are being implemented. In specific objective 1, for instance, the procurement of HPC infrastructures is ongoing to ensure that the supercomputers are available to stakeholders. In 2022, three calls for expression of interest were launched to further deploy the supercomputing and quantum infrastructure in the EU. In addition, the procurement of the third precursor-to-exascale supercomputer MARENOSTRUM V was finalised and the tender awarded. This EuroHPC joint undertaking system will be a top-of-the-range supercomputer, with a peak performance of 314 petaflops, or 314 million billion calculations per second. This supercomputer will be specifically tailored to strengthen European medical research through drug research, the development of vaccines, virus spread simulations and artificial intelligence and big data processing applications. In addition, one petascale system and one pre-exascale system were upgraded.
  • In specific objective 2, the first calls that will enable the usage of data spaces, testing and experimentation facilities, the cloud-to-edge marketplace and an artificial-intelligence-on-demand platform have been published and evaluated, and the actual implementation of the projects started in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. First data will be available as of 2024, when infrastructures start to be operational.
  • In specific objective 3, the procedures required to launch the actions that will procure cybersecurity infrastructures and tools are on track. Most projects implemented via grants or joint procurement will start implementation in early 2024. As it takes approximately 3 years to develop such advanced infrastructures, the target can only be expected to be fully met when the projects are completed.
  • The first call in 2021 that launched the implementation of training for advanced digital skills in specific objective 4 was concluded and evaluated, and the respective contracts/grant agreements were signed, with first projects to be implemented in Q1 2023. The calls launched in 2022 have been closed; the evaluation is ongoing and the indicative start of the projects is set for early 2024.
  • The procedures to launch the actions to set up the initial network of European digital innovation hubs in specific objective 5 are on track, as grant procedures are currently being finalised and the majority of projects establishing the initial network of hubs have recently started implementation.
  • As the DEP is a co-funding programme, the investments from the EU budget need to be matched by Member States. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation have affected the national plans for public spending, which needed to reprioritise investments and support to other areas. This slightly impacted some calls, especially where the contribution needed from Member States was more considerable. Such is the case, for instance, for the joint procurement for HPC infrastructure in specific objective 1.
  • Given the success of the procurement and deployment of EuroHPC supercomputers – which are now among the best in the world (e.g. Lumi, the fastest supercomputer in Europe and third fastest in the world, which is fully powered by renewable energy) – in the previous multiannual financial framework by the EuroHPC joint undertaking, this activity strand is expected to continue to deploy a world-leading data infrastructure and related services.

MFF 2014-2020 – CEF Telecom

CEF Telecom supported from 2014 to 2020 the deployment of an ecosystem of trusted cross-border digital service infrastructures (1) that are essential to triggering the digital transformation of public sector services in the Member States, all for the benefit of citizens and businesses.

 

(1)   Europeana, e-identification, e-signature, e-delivery, e-invoicing, e-archiving, public open data, automated translation, cybersecurity, eProcurement, business registers interconnection system, eHealth, electronic exchange of social security information, the European e-Justice portal, European digital media observatory, European platform on digital skills and jobs, online dispute resolution, safer internet, EU student e-card and blockchain.

 

Budget implementation

  • With an overall investment of almost EUR 280 million in the core service platforms, the Commission enabled the EU-wide interoperability of specific digital services such as eHealth, public open data, e identification and cybersecurity. With an EU contribution of almost EUR 365 million in generic services and an overall leveraged amount of more than EUR 528 million, the uptake of these services with CEF support reached a portfolio of 735 projects in the Member States and participating countries in the European Economic Area by the end of 2021. The last grant agreements under CEF Telecom were signed in 2021. Nearly one third of the total portfolio of projects are under implementation due to the duration of the actions funded by the programme, which go up to 4 years. CEF digital services support EU citizens, businesses and public administrations in interconnecting and adapting their systems to become interoperable across borders.
  • The cumulative implementation table for CEF Telecom can be found in the CEF programme statement.

 

Performance assessment

  • The deployment of the digital service infrastructures has been marked by a considerable expansion of the ecosystem, going from eight digital service infrastructures in the first working programme to 20 in the last one. As a matter of fact, the programme started supporting interoperability in a limited set of areas such as e-government, cybersecurity and the cultural sector. Over the years, the programme started enabling, through various solutions, interoperability in other areas such as health, justice, social security, education and skills, to name a few.
  • The digital service infrastructures implemented under CEF Telecom contribute to EU preparedness to deal with cyberthreats and incidents, encompassing the need for well-resourced Member State computer security incident response teams and swift and effective operational cooperation between them. Their operational cooperation is facilitated by interacting with the core service platform co-operation mechanism of the cybersecurity digital service infrastructures, MeliCERTes, which supports information sharing, facilitates a shared understanding of artefacts, threats and incidents, provides secure communications and enhances the exchange of data between them. As from 2019, an additional cooperation mechanism to facilitate the creation of European-level information sharing and analysis centres has been set up.
  • Another example is the eHealth digital service infrastructure, which facilitates the movement of health data across national borders, ensuring the continuity of care and the safety of citizens seeking healthcare outside their home country, and enabling the pooling of EU-wide medical expertise to treat rare diseases. To date, 117 projects for eHealth have been deployed in all Member States with an overall funding of EUR 29 million.
  • An overview of the performance of the actions deployed with the support of the CEF Telecommunications programme is available here. This data will feed into the ex post evaluation of the programme.

Sustainable development goals

Contribution to the sustainable development goals

SDGs the programme contributes to Example
SDG3
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

The DEP is expected to contribute to this SDG through the support provided for the digitalisation of the health sector, in particular through the uptake of digital health solutions and services.
Several actions in the first work programme are expected to contribute directly to this goal. Such is the case of the Data spaces for Health (with over 100 beneficiaries in the first and second calls) or the Testing and Experimentation Facility for Health (with 37 beneficiaries in the second call), which together are meant to constitute an investment from 2021 and 2022 EU budget of up to EUR 68 million.
Other topics might also marginally contribute with positive externalities although healthcare is not their main objective. Such is the case for support to specialised education programmes in key digital technologies for professionals in various areas, including the health sector.

SDG4
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
The DEP will promote learning opportunities in advanced digital skills in key capacity areas like data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and HPC. The support will target training opportunities for the future experts as well as upskilling of the existing workforce through short trainings reflecting the latest developments in the abovementioned key capacity areas. An example of such investment would be the ‘Specialised educational programmes in key capacity areas’ with a total support from EU 2021 and 2022 budget of EUR 122 million. In the first call (EUR 70 million) 8 beneficiaries have been selected to design and deliver higher education programme at ISCED LEVEL 7 to promote advanced digital skills.
SDG8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
The DEP is expected to contribute in bridging the investment gap in Europe and to generate jobs and economic growth. The programme will support the promotion of the advanced digital skills needed for the deployment of the technologies funded by the programme. An example of such investment would be the ‘Short-term training courses in key capacity areas’ with a total support from EU 2021 and 2022 budget of EUR 25 million. In the second call, 12 beneficiaries have been selected to organise short term training courses for up to 6 months.
SDG9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
The DEP will contribute to the broader digital transformation of areas of public interest and of industry. The acquisition and deployment of advanced supercomputing capabilities aim to enhance Europe’s industrial competitiveness. Moreover, the reinforced network of European digital innovation hubs will contribute to the digitisation of industry and address issues of technological accessibility, ensuring that businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, have access to cutting-edge technologies and finance for adapting to digital change. The deployment of cross-border interoperable digital solutions, will enhance collaboration between European Public administrations. An example of such investment would be in the setup of the network of digital innovation hubs with a total support from EU 2021-2023 budget of EUR 321 million. 150 beneficiaries receive funding in the first and second calls to establish a network of digital innovation hubs.
SDG13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
A small number of actions under the DEP will make a contribution to climate mitigation or adaptation. For example, Destination Earth with support from EU budget 2021-2023 of EUR 150 million will contribute through the development of a very high precision digital model of the Earth to enable visualising, monitoring and forecasting natural and human activity on the planet in support of sustainable development. The Destination Earth initiative will be implemented via Contribution Agreements by the European Space Agency, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts and the European Operational Satellite Agency for Monitoring Weather, Climate and the Environment from Space.
SDG16
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Selected actions under the DEP as well as the legacy solutions deployed in the context of CEF Telecommunications Programmes aim to enlarge and maximise the benefits of the digital transformation for citizens and businesses. Contribution to this SDG is expected from selected topics that aim to support the digitalization and interoperability of public administrations, piloting of AI applications in law enforcement domain, as well as the digital transformation of Justice and consumer protection. The digital transformation of public administrations shall foster trust in online services, improve the service delivery and the convenience of services for European businesses and citizens, and reduce digital administrative barriers. An example of such investment would be in the work strands supporting the digitalisation of justice and consumer protection implemented via procurement under the first work programme, which sum up to a support from EU 2021 and 2022 budget of EUR 17 million.

Archived versions from previous years

Digital Europe Programme PPS