Dublin, IRELAND – As Ireland prepares to assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the digital sector today launched a set of 12 recommendations calling on Dublin to strengthen Europe’s digital competitiveness through regulatory simplification, an open Single Market, and defence of the open internet.
Unveiled in Dublin as a delegation of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) meets Irish government officials, the recommendations urge the incoming Presidency to move beyond the abstract discussions that too often plague Brussels, and instead deliver concrete actions to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.
A central priority is genuine regulatory simplification, particularly through the AI and Digital Omnibus proposals. CCIA Europe calls on Ireland to ensure both Omnibuses deliver practical results, not another box-ticking exercise. This includes filtering out legally flawed and unworkable measures. The Presidency must also restore the regulatory coherence and legal certainty that tech companies of all sizes urgently need to innovate and compete.
A similar approach is needed to protect minors online, where proportionate EU-wide solutions should take precedence over fragmented national initiatives on age assurance or blanket age-based restrictions that differ from one Member State to another.
Preserving openness and competition across the Single Market is a second key pillar. Discrimination against non-EU providers in public procurement – such as narrow ‘made in Europe’ criteria – risks increasing costs for taxpayers, weakening security, and breaching the EU’s international trade commitments, CCIA Europe warns. Open markets are essential not only for Europe’s digital transformation, but also for delivering Green Deal and circular economy objectives that depend on access to global clean-tech innovation.
The recommendations also urge Ireland to defend net neutrality by rejecting heavy-handed mechanisms under the Digital Networks Act that could allow telecom operators to demand network fees. Any telecoms-specific obligations should remain tightly targeted at traditional last-mile operators, and explicitly exclude content delivery networks and private networks.
Beyond new initiatives, CCIA Europe stresses the importance of enforcement and coherence, urging the Irish Presidency to prioritise consistent implementation of landmark digital laws already in force before considering any additional regulatory layers.
The following can be attributed to Daniel Friedlaender, Senior Vice President & Head of CCIA Europe:
“Ireland has a real opportunity to turn Europe’s simplification rhetoric into action – by reducing the complexity of the EU’s digital rulebook and making legal certainty the standard, not the exception. A competitive Europe depends on clear tech rules, open markets, and a firm commitment to net neutrality.”
“CCIA Europe urges the Irish Presidency to place the integrity of the Single Market at the centre of the debate, rejecting blanket restrictions, unneeded new rules, or fragmented national measures that hinder innovation and increase uncertainty.”
