Sánchez presents the Digital Rights Charter with which "Spain is at the international forefront in protecting citizens' rights"

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The head of the Executive explained that the aim of this Charter is to "reinforce" and "extend" citizens' rights, "generate certainty for society in this new digital age and increase the confidence" of people in the face of the disruption that technology represents.

"With this exercise, Spain is at the forefront internationally in protecting citizens' rights, and this Charter shows the way forwards.

This was stated at an event at the Moncloa Palace, which was also attended by the First Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño; the Minister for Justice, Pilar Llop, the Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, and the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas.

Sánchez explained that this Charter "is not regulatory in nature", but rather proposes "a framework of reference for the action of all public authorities, which, being shared by all, allows us to navigate the digital environment, taking advantage of and developing all its potential and opportunities". In addition, "it is intended to serve as a guide for future legislative projects and to develop fairer public policies that protect us all".

Six main categories of rights

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoThe president stated that the Charter includes six main categories of rights, covering all areas of uncertainty and risk: rights of freedom; rights of equality; rights of participation and shaping the public space; rights of the working and business environment; digital rights in specific environments; and rights of guarantees and efficiencies.

In this regard, he highlighted the "pioneering nature" of this Charter in some of these rights, such as those related to artificial intelligence, algorithmic non-discrimination or the right of the individual to request human oversight or intervention, for example. "These rights are groundbreaking and show us as a leading country, demonstrating once again that Spain is ready to lead the way in fighting for rights around the world," he said.

For this reason, he added that the text presented today points the way forwards for Spain to "place itself at the international forefront in protecting citizens' rights".

We are fulfilling one of the mandates of the Digital Spain Agenda 2025

The head of the Executive pointed out that with this initiative "we are fulfilling one of the mandates of the Spain Digital Agenda 2025", which is one of the major milestones of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, formally approved yesterday by Brussels. A plan that "is going to dedicate 28% of its almost 70 billion to the digital transformation of our economy, in multiple areas and sectors", he recalled.

During his speech, he also pointed out that the Digital Rights Charter is the result of the work of a group of experts with a multidisciplinary profile, set up by the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence of the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, and which also included representatives from the First Vice-President of the Government, the Ministry of Justice and the Spanish Data Protection Agency. The drafting has therefore "followed a participatory process", he said, in addition to two public consultations where more than 250 contributions were received.

In short, he assured that "we need fair rules to be able to coexist in a new digital reality, guaranteeing the human nature of technological transformation at all times". "We must be able to set limits and ethically regulate any social interaction that puts fundamental rights at risk". "No one will be left unprotected. No one will be left out. And no one will be left behind," he said.

Nadia Calviño

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoFor her part, the first vice-president of the government, minister for Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, stressed that this Charter "aims to be a compass that guides our legal proposals for the future and ensures that the rights that Spaniards enjoy are the same in the online and offline world". "A compass to guide us towards a sustainable and inclusive digital transition," she added.

Calviño stated that this is "a very ambitious project on which the Government has been working intensively for more than a year", as digitalisation is one of the Executive's priorities and is of great significance in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. In her view, the aim is to "ensure a humanistic digitisation that puts people at the centre".

Non official translation