Op-ed on 'The “European Way”: The EU’s Digital Turning Point'

Europe is living through a geoeconomic turning point: interdependence is no longer treated as a peace dividend, but as a strategic vulnerability. Nowhere is that clearer than in the digital domain, where control over data centers, cloud stacks, protocols, and data flows increasingly determines power.

In our new IPQ piece, Katja Muñoz and I argue that Europe still lacks what the US and China have: a coherent grand strategy for the digital age. The numbers tell a sobering story, and Europe’s dependencies in 5G, cloud, and semiconductors remain a core geopolitical risk. Yet Brussels’ default reflex has been regulation; important for rights and market order, but insufficient to create the capacities that underpin sovereignty.

We also take a close look at the Commission’s international digital strategy (June 2025). It contains promising elements (like greater attention to critical infrastructures and a values-based positioning) but it suffers from a lack of prioritization and an implementation logic that risks repeating past mistakes (think Gaia-X).

So what should change? Our answer is the “European Way”: a blueprint built on six principles (governance, resilience, interoperability, sustainability, trust, decentralization) and one central strategic move. Europe must prioritize where it can lead along the tech stack (e.g. basic AI models, cloud infrastructure, digital identity, quantum), while building alliances with trusted partners to scale standards and supply chains.

Regulation alone won’t deliver sovereignty. Europe needs an Airbus moment. Read the full article in English or in German.