As the next milestone in its ambition to strengthen Europe’s leadership in the race for technological and digital innovation, the Commission is due to present its ‘International Digital Agenda’ on Wednesday 4 June, in an attempt, among other things, to reduce its dependence on American and, to a lesser extent, Chinese giants.
In a tense political and commercial context with the United States, the European Union is trying to rethink its approach to technological innovation and its status on the international stage (see EUROPE 13616/8). However, it is struggling to develop new ideas to make up for lost time in areas such as artificial intelligence and the development of 6G networks.
In a working version of the Commission’s ‘Strategy’ dated 9 April, which Agence Europe was able to obtain, the institution seems fully aware of the difficulties facing the Union. The document admits that it is “unrealistic” at this stage to fully break away from the dominance of American technology companies.
“The emergence and exponential growth of AI make cooperation along the entire technological value chain all the more essential”, says the working document, which cites China, Japan, South Korea and India as countries with which collaboration will be essential.
“Technological competitiveness is an economic and security imperative for all those who aspire to lasting wealth and stability”, stresses the April 9 draft, which admits that the gap between the EU and the US “is largely explained by the United States’ superior capacity to innovate and succeed in the technology sector and, conversely, by Europe’s inability to take advantage of the digital revolution”.
Without setting out any fundamentally new ideas or initiatives, the working document recalls the projects supported by the ‘Competitiveness Compass’ (see EUROPE 13565/1), “a symbol of the strong political will to focus on developing technological competitiveness”.
Four priorities are mentioned in the document: - improve European competitiveness through greater cooperation and the promotion of European tech; - ensure and promote stability within its territory and in its immediate vicinity by fighting cyber attacks head-on; - secure and strengthen the resilience of ‘critical’ production lines; - promote European norms and standards to shape a global digital transformation that is “people-centred, trustworthy and respectful of human rights and fundamental freedoms” (see EUROPE 13577/13).
The “international cooperation” advocated by the EU could also include the construction of artificial intelligence factories outside the Union to help Europe “amplify” its influence in this technology, according to the working document (see EUROPE 13598/9).
Semiconductors, AI, quantum technology, and 5G/6G are cited as priority areas for European technology policy.
The Commission is due to present its final version of the ‘International Digital Agenda’ on Wednesday 4 June. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)