L'Unione europea tra autonomia strategica e sovranità tecnologica: problemi e opportunità

The COVID-19 crisis has produced a surge of statements on the need for Europe to increase control over its production of “strategic” goods, assert its sovereignty but also gain weight and autonomy vis-à-vis the major world powers, (China and the United States.). It is noteworthy that, as soon as she was appointed in 2019, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented her vision of a “geopolitical” Commission, thus expressing her intention to strengthen the role and legitimacy of the Union as a global actor. The multiplication of this kind of references underlining the will to affirm the European Union as a global “pole” stems from an awareness influenced by several factors. The question of sovereignty has been a recurring theme for several years, and the Union must formulate responses to those who want to “take back control”, which often rhymes with a desire to renationalize the policies of the member states. Technology is a fundamental dimension in which to develop this response because it is a central dimension in the Union’s quest for greater international autonomy.

Revised version of “The European Union between strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty: impasses and opportunities”, published as FRS Recherches & Documents, No. 10/2021 (April 2021).