Summary
- Europe’s global influence as a technology regulator is not matched in its overall digital power, where it lags far behind the US and China and is highly reliant on others.
- Building a grand strategy to address this requires navigating three related dilemmas: boosting innovation while upholding European values; boosting Europe’s economic security while preserving its openness; and boosting its international influence while adapting to a harsher geopolitical environment.
- Europe has significant strengths and underexploited potential in the digital realm. It can respond successfully to the three dilemmas and establish itself as a full-fledged technology power through a series of positive-sum policies deepening markets, filling institutional gaps, and pursuing more proactive and ambitious digital diplomacy.
- These policies must be a cornerstone of the new EU leadership’s policymaking over its 2024-2029 term. Europe is already falling behind. It has no time to spare in catching up.
About the Authors
José Ignacio Torreblanca is a senior policy fellow and head of the Madrid office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since the launch of ECFR across Europe in 2007. Torreblanca is also Professor of Political Science at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid.
Giorgos Verdi is a policy fellow with the European Power programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. His research focuses on the implications of critical and emerging technologies for the EU’s competitiveness, economic security, and foreign policy.