The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) has warned that “the growing legal, political and strategic uncertainty in transatlantic digital cooperation highlights the risks of excessive dependence on external players” and called for the development of “trusted European platforms under democratic public governance” in order to strengthen digital sovereignty.
On the eve of the expected adoption by the European Commission of the legislative package on technological sovereignty (see EUROPE 13877/4), the group made public its “progressive roadmap for a sovereign and democratic European public digital infrastructure”, for which it is calling for “long-term funding to strengthen design, manufacturing and innovation in semiconductors” within the EU, as well as the use of “public procurement of European technologies and services”. In order to support the development of cloud and artificial intelligence capacity in Europe, the group maintains that “the location of a company’s registered office in the European Union and its European ownership should be essential criteria”.
“We must ensure that European industry is strengthened throughout the value chain”, said Elena Sancho Murillo, the group’s negotiator on the file relating to European technological sovereignty, stressing that the objective is to strengthen European industry, and “not to exclude American, Asian or any other countries’ industries”.
She added that “European data must remain under European jurisdiction”. “Sovereignty means having a choice between different suppliers”, said Matthias Ecke for his part, the group’s negotiator on the STEP platform. (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)