Beyond Lego: The Need for EU-Based Building Blocks of Technology

Over the past half year, during the lead-up to and aftermath of the 2024 United States (US) elections, landmark publications such as Mario Draghi’s report on European competitiveness and the EuroStack initiative have identified a myriad of hurdles and emphasized the urgency for Europe to assert its digital sovereignty.

Set against this backdrop, this policy paper sheds light on the geopolitics of technology and digitalization, particularly in relation to the EU’s position vis-à-vis the US and China. It analyzes the key building blocks that constitute the so-called technology stack, illustrated through the example of an AI chatbot. Furthermore, the paper situates the EU in the global technology playing field and considers vital steps to boost the bloc’s digital competitiveness. Ultimately, such steps should increase the bloc’s economic security—that is, the ability the EU has to make decisions and assert itself in the digital domain.

The paper concludes by presenting actionable steps for the EU and its Member States on themes such as diversifying supply chains and advancing the development of European alternatives to critical dependencies. A crucial recommendation is to strategically focus funding on areas where the EU already competes—and especially in areas where the EU can control vital chokepoints of industries, sectors or the development of particular technologies, resulting in strategic indispensability. That indispensability implies co-dependency, reducing the risk of external coercion.