Over the past decade, the European Union has positioned itself as a global regulatory power in the digital domain. More recently, political declarations have pointed to a broader ambition: to assert European digital sovereignty.
In this #EUIUpFront conversation, Thomas Streinz, Professor and Joint Chair in the Department of Law and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, and Anna Renata Pisarkiewicz, Research Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, unpack this ambition by reflecting on current debates around Europe’s digital future. They highlight key tensions between strategic autonomy and openness, and between regulating digital technologies and building the infrastructures on which they depend.
At the centre of the discussion is a shift from lawmaking to implementation. What would it mean for Europe to develop, fund, and govern its own digital infrastructures? And how can questions of democracy, public participation, and accountability be placed at the heart of this project, rather than treated as secondary concerns?
Watch the full video on the EUI YouTube channel.
The #EUIUpFront conversation series brings together EUI scholars to discuss the most pressing topics of our time from diverse perspectives.
Watch all #EUIUpFront videos on the EUI YouTube channel.
Thomas Streinz is Professor and Joint Chair in the EUI Department of Law and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. His research focuses on digital governance and global law and technology, in particular the regulation of the global data economy and the governance of digital infrastructures.
Anna Renata Pisarkiewicz is a Research Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the EUI. Her work examines questions of digital governance and European technology policy. Recent related publications include a co-authored working paper from the Centre for a Digital Society on the EU Chips Act and a book chapter on Europe’s digital future and digital sovereignty.