Economic Statecraft
№119 EU Technological Sovereignty and Its Limits
Valdai_Paper_119_ENG
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Protectionism, the pandemic and the sanctions wars that we have been witnessing over the past few years have contributed to the curtailment of globalisation as we knew it. The international division of labour at the global level is narrowing and is being localised in individual regions. The era of technoeconomic blocs is coming, which means that high technology is moving into the geopolitical plane and taking on a strategic dimension. Technological independence and security are becoming critical for the main global politics players, and the EU is no exception.

To mitigate the geopolitical risks in an increasingly divided world, in which established production and supply chains are collapsing, the EU has resolved to master key core technologies in microelectronics, quantum computing, artificiial intelligence and blockchain, and to find reliable supply chains. In other words, the EU is seeking ways to resolve the technological sovereignty issue.

The term “technological sovereignty” is often used to describe various forms of independence, autonomy, or control over digital technologies and content. However, this concept lends itself to different interpretations in scientific and political discourse.