Right, so @EU_Commission will unveil a bunch of digital proposals in the morning w/ the goal of putting 27-country bloc in competition with US and China on everything from data to artificial intellegience. It’s all a little confusing, here’s what you need to know.
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So this is all about power. The new Commission wants to push aggressively into digital, making (the. correct) reasoning that whoever controls the online world will control much of the decade
We can argue if Europe can do that. But the key term is “technological sovereignty,” or the idea of decoupling from foreign (read: US and, increasingly, Chinese firms) and to promote “European champions.” More here: politico.eu/article/europe…
I won’t go into much detail o. What’s coming today. In short, a@strategy on how to use data, proposals about the use/development of artificial intelligence and broader principles about Europe’s place in the online economy. You can watch along here: audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/ebs/1/20200…
What I’m going to do is focus on the politics of this. Many ppl say the EU as this big body that acts as one. That’s the farthest from the truth. In fact, it’s a bunch of fiefdoms battling for control, but often pulling in the same direction. It’s weird. It’s the EU. 🤷♂️
Ever since new Commission has taken over, there’s been a battle brewing about how to approach digital — the cumulation of years of struggling btwn those who want to be liberal and those who want to get more involved in mkts (it’s a generalization, but still)
.@vestager is mostly on one side of this battle, arguing for liberal markets and limited state intervention, though, like all good politicians, she’s slightly changing her tune as the political winds in Brussels change politico.eu/article/europe…
On the other is @ThierryBreton, a French former boss of @orange who is keen on pushing ahead with Using EU money to support local digital companies (read incumbents): politico.eu/article/thierr…
Again, this is an over simplification, but it’s emblematic that there are competing interests behind Europe’s digital proposals tomorrow — something that will define how the region (and beyond) handle the new wave of tech over next decade
So please look beyond the headlines of “Europe does X on digital” in the morning. This is a power grab and an open question about which side (more liberal or more interventionist) will decide the policymaking coming out of Brussels
and I get it. If you’re not in Europe, why who’s your care? Well, Brussels is keen to replicate what they did with their privacy rules — export their set of digital rules worldwide as a competitive advantage
And with the US still MIA on most of this stuff (from privacy to data use to AI to digital tax), the tussle now at play inside the Berlaymont building is going to be felt far and wide — and define much of the digital debate in the West for this decade
As Ive said before, I wish there were other legit options for digital policymaking other than those from Europe, mostly to create a competition for ideas. But with inertia in DC, that’s just not the case
So as new proposals are announced in the morning, remember this: 1) Europe doesn’t speak with one voice, 2) The battle is real, and the winner has yet to be decided, 3) the rest of the world will be affected by all of this, 4) it’s unclear if Europe will be able to pull this off
Should add: this is just start of policymaking. They still need to turn this proposals into legislation, then all the lobbying then the horse trading between EU institutions. In short, I would say <50% of what is announced will get done
But that’s still a higher % of digital rules (watch out for AI White Paper in terms of what EU wants to do to future proof it’s digital rules for new tech) than anywhere else in Western World. Not cheerleading, that’s just a fact
For more tomorrow on how this will shake out, follow my colleagues, @Melissahei, @JanoschDelcker & @LauKaya. They’ve got you covered.
My point is this: there’s some hardcore politics going on behind Europe’s new digital push. It’s complicated. It’s messy. It’s Europe.
Rant over. Thoughts appreciated.
PS: just going to leave this here in terms of creating “European champions” — French finance minister talking to @Vestager about Alstom-Bombardier proposed deal in terms of buttressing European rail industry
