In recent years, the European Union has been trying to strengthen its geopolitical profile. One of the concrete examples is the debate on digital and technological sovereignty, which Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission defined as “the capability that Europe must have to make its own choices, based on its own values, respecting its own rules, specifically in relation to technology.”
There now is a clear ambition to increase the EU’s autonomy in the field of technology. This is reflected in EU policy documents and strategies, but equally in the policy obligations that the Union imposes on member states and foreign actors, such as the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the AI Act, and the Chips Act.
“The choice of the concept of sovereignty in the discourse is remarkable because it is intrinsically linked to a statecraft political imaginary, in which territoriality and national sovereignty matter. This shows that it is considered a crucial politics issue in EU circles,” clarifies Raluca Csernatoni. She is a guest professor at VUB and a fellow at Carnegie Europe, a research institute analysing European foreign and security policies, where she specialises in European security and defence as well as emerging disruptive technologies.
Policy ambitions driven by necessity
Europe’s policy ambitions are largely driven by both geo-economic and geostrategic necessity. For example, in the past two years, the EU has been struggling with a clear shortage of chips. Moreover, it is often difficult for the EU to prevent promising start-ups, especially in the scale-up phase, from being taken over by powerful, non-European players.
By striving towards strategic autonomy in technology, the EU seeks to boost its international reputation and its industrial competitiveness. It also aims to facilitate strategic cooperation with likeminded states and to strengthen the internal innovation drive among member states. Raluca Csernatoni: “The ultimate goal is to mobilise the agendas of all actors involved. This should lead to an ignition of internal investment, boost cyber resilience across Europe and result in a reduced supply chain vulnerability. If we don't do this, the EU risks losing the technology-digital-innovation game on the world stage.”
Compliance becomes a complex task
In reality, however, policy actions that contribute to this objective are hard to achieve. After all, Europe's clout as a policymaker is mainly focused on the single market. Therefore, instrumentalising European policies for geopolitical purposes is not easy nor self-evident. The increase in European regulations in the coming years risks leading to a legislative overstretch, making it very complex for member states and other commercial stakeholders to comply with all applicable rules.
Nevertheless, Csernatoni expects European policies to deliver results in the coming years. “I predict that this trend will certainly lead to a further build-up of existing capacity around technology, digital and cyber security issues in the coming years, including at the member state level. This stems from the realisation that the infrastructure of our digital lives needs to be further protected.”
To take this step, intermediate organisations can function as the ‘translators’ of these policies. Raluca Csernatoni sees an increasingly crucial role for the Cyber Security Coalition, for example. “After all, these platforms can explain the need for this transformation and translate it into workable products for the general public. At the end of the day, it is not about theoretical concepts, but also about how our everyday lives are shaped,” Csernatoni concludes.