TALLINN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker Friday highlighted the digital future and cybersecurity to make Europe more generally a safe and secure place for people.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas on the first ever Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1 until Dec. 31 this year, Juncker said,"Digital is the DNA of your country and it needs to become part of the European DNA. We are counting on your leadership, on your e-expertise to make progress".
"Under the guidance of the Estonian Vice-President of the Commission, Andrus Ansip, we have made some real progress towards completing the Digital Single Market," he noted, hailing Estonia's efforts, together with the upcoming Bulgarian and Austrian Presidencies, to set the goal to reach an agreement on the issue by the end of next year.
"Reaching that agreement is important if we want to see high-speed internet rolled out across the European Union or see 5G be commercially available in at least one major city in each EU Member State by 2020, like it will be in Tallinn by next year,"Juncker noted.
Successful deployment of 5G could bring 146 billion euros (about 166 billion U.S. dollars) worth benefits a year and is likely to create 2.4 million jobs in the European Union, he added.
However, Juncker stressed that the success of the Digital Single Market will also depend on the confidence of Europeans, valuing Estonia's experience on cybersecurity.
He also expected the motto of the Estonia Presidency "united through balance" can become the reality on the reform of the Common European Asylum System over the course of the next six months.
For his part, Ratas said, "the free movement of data is a precondition for the Digital Single Market," and that trust and security need to be increased with focus on cybersecurity issues.
Earlier at the Estonian Prime Minister office, Ratas met separately with Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk to discuss the Estonian presidency's work plan, social and defence policy issues, as well as security, peace and stability in the neighbourhood of the EU.
After the Brexit vote in 2016 and Britain's subsequent relinquishment of its scheduled presidency in the Council of the European Union, Estonia takes over the Britain's six-month slot instead for the second half of this year.
