Vodafone Group

The review of EU Public Procurement directives is an opportunity to use the EUs considerable public sector purchasing power (c. 2-2.5 trillion Euros per year) to drive forward EU strategic security, social and economic policy objectives. Vodafone supports giving greater weight to non-price criteria in bid assessments (especially network and information security and sovereignty).

Vodafones response sets out where we support the Commissions proposal for a Digital Networks Act, while also identifying specific areas that should be further developed to strengthen the framework through the legislative process. We recognise the proposal as an important step towards reducing fragmentation, improving legal certainty and supporting investment in Europes digital infrastructure.

To unlock the full potential of the EUs digital single market for its citizens, a comprehensive and ambitious modernisation of the EUs telecoms regulations is essential. The DNA should stimulate innovation, investment and harmonisation across the EU.

Use of open source based products improves vendor diversity and can contribute to European digital sovereignty in multiple ways. For most public sector and sovereignty sensitive organisations this means commercially provided services based on open source. CIOs need a way to evaluate the sovereignty benefits of open source-based solutions.

Vodafone welcomes the opportunity to comment on the revision of the Cyber Security Act and sees this exercise as an opportunity to drive forward much needed simplification of cybersecurity regulation impacting the digital services sector. We support a much larger role for ENISA in simplifying rules of the currently fragmented and overly complex cybersecurity landscape.

Vodafone calls for a Connectivity Union to secure Europe's digital ambitions.The EU faces a unique set of challenges for its digital ambitions: i) a large investment gap jeopardising the EU's digital transformation, ii) the lack of a Single Market and the associated scale benefits - due to the fragmentation of rules between Member States and within different parts of the digital ecosystem, iii) an innovation by…

Vodafone welcomes the publication of the European Commission roadmap/Inception Impact Assessment: Ex ante regulatory instrument for large online platforms with significant network effects acting as gate-keepers in the European Union’s internal market.

Vodafone welcomes the European Commissions initiative to create a Quantum Act and supports the ambition to position Europe as a global leader in quantum technologies. The Quantum Act is highly relevant for the connectivity sector, as quantum technologies will underpin the next generation of secure, high-capacity communications networks.

The EUs Digital Decade vision and its 2030 targets are essential for Europes digital transformation. While these goals are ambitious and set the benchmark for progress, robust and targeted support for the telecoms sector is crucial. Current barriers, including regulatory complexity and a persistent digital skills gap, risk leaving Europe behind globally.

Vodafone welcomes the Commissions initiative to streamline defence and sensitive security procurement and to enable agile joint purchasing while strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Done right, simplification can reduce time to contract, open opportunities for innovative EU suppliers (including SMEs), and improve interoperability across borders.

We welcome the ECs efforts to review its competition framework. Europe needs a shift in competition policy that enables European companies to innovate, invest, scale up and improve competitiveness (as per Draghi and the Competitiveness Compass). But the guidelines review is not enough. A comprehensive review of the merger framework is needed, including the Merger Regulation and Remedies Notice.

Vodafone welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Commissions work on strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base and improving the functioning of the Defence Single Market. As a major provider of secure electronic communications networks and services across Europe, Vodafone operates critical digital infrastructure that is increasingly relevant to defence, security, and resilience…