The discursive construction of European technological sovereignty in the digital domain: ideational conditionalities and legitimization strategies

Abstract

In a context of increasing geopolitical competition for technological supremacy, which are the ideas and discourses used by the European Commission (EC) to justify and legitimize the need to develop European technological sovereignty in the digital domain? This analysis uses Discursive institutionalism to identify the discourses that the EC has developed to promote the development of European Union's (EU) technological sovereignty in the digital sector, and to examine how these discourses condition and shape technological policies and strategies. The study argues that the EC's proposals for developing European digital sovereignty are conditioned by the 'ideational path dependence' generated by three background philosophical ideas: 'the Europe of values', 'the Europe that regulates', and 'the Europe that protects'. Additionally, the study examines the discursive strategies of 'ideational bricolage' used by some of the EC decision-makers to combine and make compatible different narratives which justify and legitimize the need of European digital sovereignty. Qualitative content is used to analyze documents from the EC and speeches made by its main representatives during November 2019 to December 2022.