The aim is to achieve the meteoric transformation to a new digital world "swiftly and efficiently, but in a way that is compatible with the needs of society". Angela Merkel reaffirmed that Germany and France are called on to play an instrumental role here. "Wherever possible" joint responses are to be identified, she reported.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President François Hollande met for talks before the conference to prepare the ground for the European Council meeting on Thursday. Their talks focused on the situation in Syria and Ukraine, and on the common European migration policy.

Life-long learning for all age groups

The Chancellor underscored the importance of education and training for the digital transformation. "All age groups need to be trained, starting in schools," she said. It is well known, she said, "that it is crucially important for our children to get the education they need today that will enable them to live and work in the digital world in future".

The crux of the matter for the working world is the exciting question of how to retain the curiosity of the population and their drive to learn for their entire working life, explained the Chancellor.

Angela Merkel explained that she also considers e-government to be important "because digitalisation then becomes an axiomatic part of relations between the people and their government." It will lead to employees, those whose working environment is changing, accepting it as an entirely natural development, she added.

For the digital single market

French President François Hollande also underlined the fact that Europe needs a large digital single market to help businesses. "We need a medium- and long-term strategy." The question is whether Europe is going to be able to become an innovative continent, he added.

Europe needs ambitious goals

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, had earlier called on Europe to demonstrate greater ambition in developing its internet sector. Ambitious goals are needed, he declared. "Europe must not aim for anything less than the best digital infrastructure in the world," stated Sigmar Gabriel. The second best is not good enough.

If we do not invest now, we risk seeing worsening unemployment and higher debts, warned Sigmar Gabriel. He pointed to plans to put in place a Franco-German growth initiative with a volume of one billion euros.

This was the second Franco-German conference on digitalisation. It has its roots in an agreement reached by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President François Hollande when the Franco-German Council of Ministers met in March 2015. It was hosted by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel and his French counterpart Michel Sapin. More than 300 high-ranking representatives of the business and political communities attended.