[FSFE] EU Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles falls short of its ambitions

[press at fsfe.org]

 = EU Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles falls short of its ambitions =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2022/news-20221206-01.it.html ]

Member states, the European Parliament, and the Commission have reached
a consensus on the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.
Although it aims to serve as a reference point for the digital
transformation of Europe, it instead descends into murky waters, causing
ambiguity. Its wording is unclear and it overlooks existing good
proposals.

Whereas the EU institutions claim that digital sovereignty and openness
are crucial for the digital transformation of Europe, the declaration
lacks clear definition of such values. The text of the declaration makes
reference to promoting interoperability, open technologies and
standards. However, it is not clear what exactly the signatory
institutions mean with such wording. By contrast, the European
Parliament proposal had a clear reference to Free Software as a way to
ensure transparency in the use of algorithms and artificial
intelligence, as well as the importance of Open Standards.
Unfortunately, this wording failed to be upheld during the inter-
institutional negotiations, and the final text ended up being rather
unclear.

/“In a fast-pace digitalised society, the importance of such declaration
of digital rights is crucial. This text will serve as a benchmark for
decision makers in the journey of shaping our digital sphere. It is
problematic for our software freedom that such declaration lacks clear
definitions and that solid existing frameworks are not being taken into
consideration”,/ explains Lina Ceballos, FSFE Policy Project Manager.

It is also not clear if the declaration is consistent with existing
frameworks. According to its text, it is built upon previous initiatives
such as the Berlin and Tallinn [1] declarations. These aforementioned
frameworks already refer to Free Software when it comes to digital
sovereignty and interoperability, while they also require more use of
Free Software, and strengthening the requirement for its use. However,
when it comes to interoperability, Free Software is not explicitly
mentioned in the Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles.

Last but not least, /“the declaration misses to name reusability of
software and hardware through Free Software licenses as an important
step towards a more sustainable digital society. Having said this, the
current negotiations about the Ecodesign Directive will have to do it
right where the declaration falls short”/ says Erik Albers, FSFE's
Digital Sustainability Program Manager.

 1: https://fsfe.org/news/2017/news-20170710-01.it.html

  == Informazioni sulla Free Software Foundation Europe ==

  La Free Software Foundation Europe è una Onlus che incoraggia gli utenti
  ad avere il controllo della tecnologia. Il Software è presente in tutti
  gli aspetti della nostra vita ed è importante che questa tecnologia ci
  aiuti anziché limitarci. Il Software Libero garantisce a tutti il
  diritto di usare, studiare, modificare e condividere il software. Questi
  diritti aiutano a sostenere altre libertà fondamentali come il diritto
  di parola, la libertà di stampa e la privacy.

  La FSFE aiuta persone e organizzazioni a comprendere come il Software
  Libero contribuisce alla libertà, alla trasparenza e
  all'auto-determinazione.  Potenziamo i diritti degli utenti abolendo le
  barriere che esistono nell'adottare il Software Libero, incoraggiamo le
  persone ad usare e sviluppare il Software Libero e forniamo le risorse
  per consentire a tutti di promuovere ulteriormente il Software Libero in
  Europa. 

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