Summit on European Digital Sovereignty Pushes Protectionism Over Progress, Says Center for Data Innovation

LONDON—In response to the push for greater European digital sovereignty by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Franco-German Summit, the Center for Data Innovation released the following statement from Policy Analyst Matthew Kilcoyne:

The push for digital sovereignty in Europe is protectionism, pure and simple. In his keynote address, French President Macron explicitly called for new pressures on American tech firms and protectionist support for EU companies. Doing so would be an act of self-sabotage.

Europe is already grappling with a lagging and widening productivity gap, with output now just 76 percent of American levels—a shortfall driven fundamentally by slow technology diffusion. The French and German agenda for Europe, imposed on all member states despite significant disagreements over just what digital sovereignty even means in practice, further threatens to hold Europe back from growth.

Instead of prioritising the rapid adoption of world-leading technologies to close this gap—in everything from AI to quantum computing—the agenda championed by President Macron and Chancellor Merz commits the continent to the costly and inefficient duplication of existing technologies.

Policymakers would do well to focus instead on market-driven innovation and the swift adoption of digital technologies across the entire economy to ensure that European industries survive and thrive. Europe should resist the siren song of sovereigntists, whose bold delusions risk setting the continent on a path of dither, delay, and decay.

Contact: Nicole Hinojosa, [email protected]