in-cyprus 19 November 2025
By policypress.cy
At the Cyprus Forum Brussels 2025, a high-level panel on “Digitalisation and Competitiveness: Vision of the CY Presidency” outlined how Cyprus intends to steer the EU’s digital agenda when it assumes the rotating Council Presidency.
The discussion highlighted a crowded legislative landscape, from the upcoming Digital Omnibus to the Business Wallet and cybersecurity reforms and examined how these initiatives will shape Europe’s competitiveness.
The panel featured Giorgos Ioannides, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the EU; Despina Spanou, Deputy Director-General for Networks & Technology, European Commission; Tzvetoslav Mitev, Director for Data Economy & Public Administration and Antoine Mathieu Collin, Visiting Fellow, Bruegel moderated by Eddy Wax from Euractiv
Cyprus Presidency position
Giorgos Ioannides set out the Presidency’s overarching philosophy: digital transition is no longer optional and must be treated as a core driver of competitiveness, resilience, and European sovereignty.
Rather than adding new layers of regulation, Cyprus intends to act as a “guardian of balance”, facilitating negotiations to ensure digital files remain coherent, streamlined and investment-friendly. Competitiveness, he stressed, will be treated as a horizontal priority cutting across the entire legislative agenda.
Ioannides outlined three guiding principles for the Presidency:
- Proportionality
- Avoidance of regulatory overlaps and inconsistencies
- Predictable rules that attract investment
He emphasised that European companies operate in a global environment where the EU must be agile to keep pace with fast-moving competitors. Strategic use of public procurement, he added, can serve as a powerful catalyst for innovation and EU technology capacity.
On the geopolitical dimension, including a possible shift in US policy under a future Trump administration, he insisted the EU must remain firm on its values, especially for privacy while continuing cooperation on AI safety and research where interests align.
Digital Omnibus, simplification without deregulation
With the European Commission preparing to present its Digital Omnibus package, Despina Spanou underscored that the proposals are “about simplification, not lowering standards”.
Key points from Spanou marked; GDPR is a “global reference standard” the EU has no intention of weakening; simplification aims to clarify obligations where businesses struggle with implementation, not dilute rights; the Commission increasingly views its work as “providing compliance as a service”, through guidance, structured support, and the new EU AI Office.
Cybersecurity reform: ‘report once, reach many’
Spanou also detailed the Commission’s upcoming cybersecurity initiatives:
- A unified cyber-incident notification mechanism ‘report once, reach many’ to replace the current fragmented reporting under GDPR and other frameworks.
- A review of the Cybersecurity Act, focusing on:
- Clarifying ENISA’s mandate and the wider EU cyber governance ecosystem
- Streamlining certification schemes
- Addressing supply-chain security gaps more effectively
She stressed that simplification in cyber is not about relaxing requirements, but about making an increasingly complex system workable.
Business Wallet a flagship file for competitiveness
Both Spanou and Tzvetoslav Mitev highlighted the upcoming Business Wallet as a transformative tool for Europe’s digital economy described as “an eID for businesses.”
The Business Wallet will allow companies to authenticate securely and complete administrative or financial procedures without paperwork, physical presence, or manual certification.
Mitev argued that the wallet can unlock high-value interactions between companies and administrations. Highlighting its success depending on public administrations being required to use and offer it for core procedures. He argued that a purely voluntary system would risk low uptake, a problem seen in previous eID projects.
He noted that several Eastern European governments are already pushing for stronger mandatory elements to ensure the wallet delivers real simplification rather than remaining a niche option.
A warning on ‘simplification’
Offering a cautionary perspective, Antoine Mathieu Collin stressed that regulatory simplification in the digital sphere has distributional effects.
From a competition and data-power lens he argued simplifying compliance and data flows may strengthen the advantage of major platforms, which already benefit from scale, data accumulation, and network effects. Without safeguards, red-tape reduction could tilt the playing field further towards large incumbents, undermining smaller European firms.
Collin argued that the EU’s challenge is to simplify enough to boost innovation while preventing excessive concentration of digital power.
Cybersecurity
Returning to cybersecurity, Spanou noted that tomorrow’s single-entry reporting proposal is only the beginning. A broader Cybersecurity Act review will follow in the coming weeks, aiming to modernise and streamline the system while maintaining strict standards.
Ioannides added that the moment is decisive: Choices made now will define Europe’s digital competitiveness for the next decade.
Presidency focused on making rules work
Across the panel, a consistent message emerged: the Cyprus EU Presidency wants to be judged not by the number of new initiatives it launches, but by whether it can make existing rules work in practice. The Presidency’s priorities include: Cutting overlaps and simplifying compliance; Providing tools like the Business Wallet that reduce bureaucratic over-do; Ensuring cybersecurity rules remain strong but workable; Supporting innovation through clear, predictable frameworks.
What remains to be seen is whether these simplification efforts will truly empower small and mid-sized European firms or whether they risk reinforcing the dominance of Europe’s largest digital actors.
What is the Digital Omnibus?
The Digital Omnibus is a package from the European Commission designed to simplify and streamline the EU’s digital rulebook without lowering existing standards. It forms part of the Commission’s broader effort to reduce administrative burdens on businesses, particularly for SMEs by cutting overlaps and inconsistencies across Europe’s expanding digital legislation. The Omnibus will amend multiple parts of the EU’s digital acquis to ensure better coherence with cornerstone laws such as the GDPR, Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.
The goal is to replace fragmented obligations with clearer, more predictable rules, eliminating duplicate reporting and aligning definitions across different pieces of legislation. The Commission has made clear that the Omnibus is not a deregulation exercise: high standards on privacy, security and consumer protection remain intact. Instead, it seeks to make compliance easier and more practical by offering a more consistent regulatory framework that businesses can navigate without unnecessary administrative friction.
What is the European Business Wallet?
The Business Wallet is a digital identity tool that will allow companies to authenticate themselves and exchange verified information with authorities and partners across the EU. Building on the EU’s updated digital identity framework (eIDAS), the wallet will provide each business with a secure, standardised digital identity and a dedicated space to store official credentials such as licenses, certificates, or registration documents that can be shared instantly and securely across borders.
The Commission intends the Business Wallet to accelerate the shift to “digital-by-default” public services by replacing paper-based processes with trusted digital interactions. Companies will be able to complete administrative procedures, fulfil reporting obligations, or prove compliance through the wallet, significantly reducing time and administrative costs. Importantly, EU institutions have positioned the Business Wallet as a voluntary tool: its adoption will not be mandatory for businesses, but its efficiency gains are expected to drive strong uptake, particularly among SMEs seeking easier access to the Single Market.
