Thibaut Kleiner, Director of Future Networks, DG Connect, European Commission, explores how the EU is working to boost digital connectivity in Europe and meet the goals of the Digital Decade.

With a goal for Europe to become the most connected continent by 2030, the EU has implemented a broad range of programmes and initiatives to help elevate Europe’s digital infrastructure. EU policies on connectivity aim at harmonising connectivity regulations to foster cross-EU services and expand networks.

The EU’s main objectives include the expansion and implementation of 5G networks, the rollout of advanced Gigabit networks, and research and development into 6G. The Innovation Platform spoke to Thibaut Kleiner, Director of Future Networks, DG Connect, to explore these objectives further and investigate the progress made so far in the EU’s digital connectivity journey.

What are the near-term goals for Europe’s connectivity journey?

The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles specifies that: “Everyone, everywhere in the EU, should have access to affordable and high-speed digital connectivity”. This is translated into a comprehensive approach to digital connectivity, including fixed networks, undersea cables, satellite communications, and wireless high-speed networks.

For 2030, the ‘Digital Decade Policy Programme’ (DDPP) sets clear targets for digital maturity across the EU, including that 100% of populated areas have access to 5G services. At the end of 2024, 5G population coverage across the EU’s 27 Member States was 94.3%, with 79.6% in rural areas. There are, however, disparities among Member States, and full standalone 5G is still missing in many areas of the EU, which requires further investment.

Significant EU funding is devoted to digital infrastructure deployment, amongst others, from cohesion and structural funds, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), or the Digital part of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which has funded in particular 5G-enabled transport corridors and local services of public interest, as well as fixed, satellite and submarine cables within the EU and with outside territories. These actions are part of a broad strategy to reduce the investment gap and promote connectivity, to reinforce Europe’s digital infrastructure and make it capable of supporting technological advancements, including artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G networks, which are longer term goals.

How is the European Commission supporting research and innovation in advancing Europe’s connectivity towards 6G?

The European Commission set up, together with industry, the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU), which is a European Public-Private Partnership funded by the Horizon Europe programme, focusing on 6G research and 5G deployment. This follows many years of efforts to foster European leadership in research and innovation on advanced mobile communications, including through the previous 5G Public-Private Partnership.

By the end of 2024, the SNS JU had invested over €500m across three calls for projects, supporting a wide range of 6G technologies and use cases across more than 11 vertical sectors, aiming at advancing Europe’s technological excellence in next-generation connectivity. The total EU budget committed until the end of the programme is expected to be €900m, complemented by an equivalent in-kind contribution from industry.

What are the main obstacles in Europe’s journey towards 6G and how can these be overcome?

6G is, to some extent, a continuity of the past generations of mobile technologies. We can therefore look at the experience with 5G deployment and learn the lessons that can be useful for the 6G future, and there are a series of mistakes that should be avoided.

For instance, industry applications of 5G have picked up more slowly than initially anticipated, especially in Europe when compared to other parts of the world. Whereas 5G commercial services are now largely available in all 27 Member States, most of these are ‘basic 5G’, rather than more advanced ‘standalone’ 5G services, which only cover a bit more than 50% of EU households. Also, current network deployments do not yet make use of the full spectrum offered by all three pioneer 5G spectrum bands (700 MHz, 3.6 GHz, 26 GHz), and tend to be in continuity with 4G, limiting the performance of 5G connectivity. The lesser use of higher frequencies also explains the slow deployment of core 5G networks supporting 5G standalone configurations.

A significant obstacle for 6G is the reluctance of telecom operators to invest in a new generation of communication networks, before having cashed in on 5G, and without having the necessary profit margins to invest. In that context, the fragmentation of EU telecom markets is often mentioned as an obstacle to further investment in advanced networks. The Commission will seek to further unlock the potential of the Digital Single Market, adapting the EU regulatory framework on telecoms with its proposal on the Digital Networks Act (DNA) early 2026. The DNA will aim at simplifying the rules, seeking a level playing field across the EU Single market for connectivity, including a more co-ordinated EU spectrum policy.

Thirdly, emerging technologies like AI and cloud computing are converging with connectivity, with the risk that the EU’s connectivity infrastructure and operators do not adapt sufficiently and quickly to this technology and market landscape. For Europe to become an AI Continent, and to be less dependent on foreign providers, we must tackle the EU gap on cloud and computing capacity, investing in the connectivity needed for connecting data centres, edge nodes and cloud services. That will be the aim of the Commission proposal on the Cloud and AI Development Act, also expected at the beginning of 2026.

Finally, there are other more specific challenges to tackle to clear the path for 6G deployment in Europe, including spectrum allocation, security of increasingly complex networks, and sustainability in the face of exponentially higher energy and water consumption associated with digital developments.

How are you addressing the issues of recovery and resilience to help support the digital transition?

Recent crisis and a tense geopolitical context have intensified the need to ensure our resilience, so as to address increasing threats and anticipate shocks. The roll-out of secure 5G networks across Europe has been a strategic priority of the European Commission for several years now, and the same applies to fixed, submarine and satellite networks. This has been translated in security requirements for the participation in various EU funding programmes: Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, CEF, RRF and others.

Concerns about security in general and cybersecurity in particular are also increasingly reflected in EU legislation, not only on digital communications and technology, but also on many areas of economic activity (transport, energy, finance, etc.) considering the pervasive use of technology in all those areas. This aspect is expected to feature prominently in EU legislation, whether that be related to submarine cable, 5G/6G, satellite or cloud computing networks.

How important is international co-operation to the EU’s digital connectivity strategy?

International co-operation is very important for technology markets which are global and interconnected. In particular, global standards are instrumental to ensure competitiveness and interoperability of 5G and later 6G networks, which calls for EU co-operation with other regions. It is thus important that players from all over the world work in global Standardisation Development Organisations like 3GPP to agree on common standards. The same applies to the choice of spectrum bands.

The EU wants to be at the heart of these developments. It has agreed with the US on a joint ‘6G vision’, focusing on technology challenges and research collaboration. The EU also has digital dialogues with other countries like Japan or Korea, which include collaboration between 6G projects receiving public funding in the EU and those other countries. Discussions with China and with important partners such as India, Brazil or African countries will also be essential in that context.

Please note, this article will also appear in the 23rd edition of our quarterly publication.