Digital Decade - Multi-country projects

Multi-country projects should pool investments from EU funding resources, including from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and from national resources. Other public and private entities may invest in the projects where appropriate. 

Multi-country projects should be implemented in a coordinated manner, in close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States. 

In the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 Decision Annex the Commission has identified an initial list of areas for multi-country projects and may update the list, if needed, based on the annual progress monitoring:

• European Common Data Infrastructure and Services
• Endow the EU with the next generation of low power trusted processors
• Deploying Pan-European 5G corridors
• Acquiring supercomputers and quantum computers
• Developing and deploying an ultra-secure quantum and space-based communication infrastructures
• Deploying a network of Security Operations Centres
• European Digital Innovation Hubs
• High-tech partnerships for digital skills and specialised education
• European Blockchain Services Infrastructure

Multi-country projects should aim to achieve one or more of the following specific goals:

(a) improving the cooperation between the Union and the Member States and among the Member States in achieving the general objectives;

(b) reinforcing the Union’s technological excellence, leadership, innovation and industrial competitiveness in critical technologies, complementary technology combinations, and digital products, infrastructure and services that are essential for economic recovery and growth and for the security and safety of individuals;

(c) addressing strategic vulnerabilities and dependencies of the Union along the digital supply chains in order to enhance their resilience;

(d) increasing the availability, and promoting the best use, of safe digital solutions in areas of public interest and the private sector while observing the principles of technological neutrality;

(e) contributing to an inclusive and sustainable digital transformation of the economy and society that benefits all citizens and businesses, in particular SMEs, across the Union;

(f) promoting digital skills for citizens through education, training and life-long learning, with a focus on fostering gender balanced participation in education and career opportunities.

The Commission helps Member States identify, set up and implement multi-country projects. To set-up a multi-country project where there is no other legal instrument, the Digital Decade policy programme introduced a new legal structure, the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC), which helps speed up and simplify the set-up and implementation of a particular multi-country project. 

Every year, the Commission publishes a report on the state of play of the Digital Decade and progress of multi-country projects. 

Read the 2004 update on Multi Country Projects (.pdf)