People walk down a street as a camera watches | Scott Barbour/Getty Images Opinion Europe’s obsession with privacy rights hinders growth This mindset threatens Europe’s path to prosperity in the digital age, argues the Ericsson VP.

A successful digital economy and society will be defined as one that knows how to use information and knowledge to its best advantage.

Ninety percent of global GDP growth in the next 10 years will take place outside the EU. Given that data-driven innovation will become a key source of growth, the European project stands at a critical economic juncture.

While Europe is rightly proud of its knowledge-based society and economy, the Continent’s future prosperity is at great risk if the European Commission continues to sideline its commitment to cut down on extraneous regulation (so-called Better Regulation) as it creates and implements new privacy policy frameworks.

As it stands today, the European privacy policy development pursues only one goal — the right to privacy. But the right to privacy is a fundamental but not an absolute right, a distinction EU policymakers fail to make.

Policy makers commonly make three major mistakes.

Europe’s tunnel vision on privacy stands in the way of developing and implementing progressive privacy policies that can secure the right to privacy and at the same time promote growth, jobs and technological advancement. This mindset threatens Europe’s path to prosperity in the digital age. EU legislation needs to shed excess regulatory burden, and focus on fostering growth and competitiveness.

Policy makers commonly make three major mistakes.

The first is rhetoric. Policy makers often rely on the logic that more and more privacy regulation will make companies more competitive. But no compelling evidence has yet been advanced to back up these statements, and neither experience nor economic theory supports them.

The second is attitude. When businesses challenges privacy proposals, they are frequently dismissed and labeled as being contrary to the fundamental right to privacy. All this does is block the emergence of constructive, balanced and progressive privacy policy legislation, and preserve a one-sided policy approach.

The third is substance. Europe’s need for better and smarter regulation — as expressed by 19 ministers of EU member countries — must be also extended to privacy policy and be reflected in the work of key stakeholders such as DG Justice, the European Data Protection Supervisor and future data protection authorities.

What we need is a central, well-observed function — possibly in the form of a Chief Economist — with a clear mandate to ensure Better Regulation principles are fully reflected in privacy policy frameworks. To strike the appropriate balance between competing fundamental rights and other goals, the chief economist's function would ensure, in an impartial and well-balanced way, that the pursuit of fundamental rights does not negatively affect growth, jobs, and technological advancement.

Technology — no matter how innovative — cannot be expected to digitize Europe’s knowledge economy on its own. Policymakers have a decisive role to play: One that will either suffocate technological development or drive a new wave of modernization and prosperity.

Ulf Pehrsson is vice president and head of government and industry relations at Ericsson.