Digitalization in the EU: digital infrastructure limiting long-term investment 2022

Digital infrastructure is one of the key policy areas in which the European Union aims to increase investment over the coming years in order to facilitate long-term growth. The importance of digital infrastructure, such as access to high-speed broadband internet, can be seen in the long-term investment decision of European companies. In 2022, seven EU member states had more than half of their firms reporting that the lack of digital infrastructure in the union is an obstacle to them making long-term investments.

This trend was highest in countries such as Greece, Austria, and Luxembourg, while in countries such as Estonia, Hungary, Denmark, and the Netherlands, this was at its lowest. There is an important differentiation to be made between countries such as Denmark, where firms likely do not perceive infrastructure as an obstacle due to currently high-levels of digitalization, and countries such as Hungary, where a small number of firms are involved in digital services or high-tech industries, and therefore do not perceive digital infrastructure as a constraint on their investment activities.