Event

Digital Sovereignty: Which strategy for Europe?

European conference organised by Renaissance Numérique with the support of the Office of the French Ambassador for Digital Affairs

Online

17 May 2021, 2.00 to 5.30 pm CEST

This conference gathered the public actors, members of civil society, researchers and companies that act and reflect on the issue of digital sovereignty at the European level. The goal was to think collectively about the concept of “digital sovereignty” and about a strategy that the European Union could adopt in this regard. These debates took place in the midst of the working group that the think tank Renaissance Numérique set up on the matter, with the support of the Bureau of the French Ambassador for digital affairs. They fostered comprehensive discussions with actors sharing views from different standpoints, in order to develop a European perspective of digital sovereignty.

Programme

2.00-2.15 pm – Welcome & Introduction 

By Nicolas Vanbremeersch, Board Member of Renaissance Numérique and Clément Beaune, French Secretary of State for European Affairs
2.15-2.30 pm – European digital sovereignty: an introduction to the concept

By Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director of the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University and President of the CyberPeace Institute
2.30-3.45 pm – Debate 1 | “Where and at what level is the European Union dependent in the digital field?” 

Here, the digital field is understood as being a strategic dimension, just as the seas or space. Therefore, mastering it is, for the European Union, a necessary condition in order to be sovereign, by which we mean being capable of deciding freely of its actions. Subsequently, the concept of digital sovereignty questions Europe’s technological capacities and dependence in the field. But the digital field is made up of several technological layers, each and one of them with different levels of strategic importance. This panel aimed at defining which ones are strategic and what is the position of the EU on the matter.

This debate was moderated by Laura Kayali, Policy reporter, POLITICO Europe.

Speakers:

  • Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen, Denmark’s Tech Ambassador
  • Guillaume Poupard, Director general of ANSSI (the French National Cybersecurity Agency)
  • Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, Member of the European Parliament
  • Rene Summer, Director of Government and Industry relations at Ericsson
3.45-4.00 pm – Break
4.00-5.15 pm – Debate 2 | “How can the European Union develop sufficient capacities in the digital field in order to guarantee its sovereignty?”

The aim of this second debate was to define the practical means that will allow the European Union to develop the strategic capacities – identified in the first debate – necessary to its sovereignty. It focused on three questions in particular: How to guanrantee the European Union’s access to strategic infrastructure? Should the EU capitalize on its regulatory power in order attain its digital sovereignty objectives? How can it foster strategic technological capacities and develop a dynamic ecosystem of European innovators?

This debate was moderated by Julien Nocetti, Senior associate fellow at IFRI.

Speakers: 

  • Thibaut Kleiner, Director of Policy, Strategy and Outreach at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
  • Dragoş Tudorache, Member of the European Parliament
  • Marie Ekeland, Founder of 2050
  • Corinna Schulze, Director of EU Government Affairs at SAP
5.15-5.30 – Conclusion 

Rewatch the debate :