The Many (Digital) Faces of the EU
Dear Reader,
We are living through digitalization’s quintessential geo-political moment. Everywhere, there are signs that national interests can no longer be calculated or secured without factoring in one’s stakes and place in the gold rush of the digital transition. We set our lens on this complex terrain of digital realpolitik, as different actors make their plays and attempt to find their place in the prevailing forcefield. To this end, for May and June, we bring you a special focus on the EU: taking stock of different facets of its evolving digital policy approach that have ramifications, both within its borders and beyond.
First, however, a quick look at the month gone by…
May saw new developments in the escalating tech war. The US announced another round of trade sanctions, quadrupling its tariffs on China’s Electric Vehicles. It also raised duties on Chinese batteries and semiconductors. While some have argued that this was motivated by the need to assuage the domestic electoral pressures of this year, it does fan the flames of the economic battle. Doubts persist about how effective such measures are in curbing China’s industries. Recent reporting has indicated that China has been able to access high-end AI chips, despite US restrictions. Moreover, analysts point out that the country has also become adept at rerouting its products through factories in other countries that have free-trade deals with the US. Even the recent attempt to ban TikTok has been challenged by the company in court, where allegedly it has a robust case.
Moving on to other recent developments, there was a breath of fresh air with two progressive developments across the Western hemisphere. The EU passed its ‘Right to Repair’ legislation, putting in place new rights for consumers and new obligations for businesses. This is a decisive step in curbing the vast quantities of electronic waste (35 million tones by one estimate) that are generated by planned obsolescence and the disposing of usable gadgets. Parallelly, the US also moved to reinstate net neutrality, bringing back a backbone of anti-monopolistic regulation in internet operations that had previously been cast aside.
Finally, in the world of AI policy, this month saw the developing world across the board making policy moves. Kenya partnered with the EU and Germany to announce its own National AI strategy. The Ethiopian parliament passed a new bill to enact comprehensive data protection legislation. Chile announced a new AI strategy, as well as a legislative framework to provide guardrails for its development. South Africa announced both the creation of an AI advisory panel, as well as a large-scale digital connectivity initiative to expand internet access to 5.5 million rural homes.
Returning to our month’s issue, the first part of DataSyn’s special EU-focused series, we bring you three articles covering the breadth of the region’s digital politics. Our first piece tackles the growing unwieldiness of the EU’s ‘twin transitions’ and the acute contradictions that are emerging within them. Our second piece delves into the resurgence of industrial policy in the digital context and cautions against the uncritical ways it is being championed. Finally, looking at the EU’s activity from a Global South perspective, our final piece analyzes the contours of its recent ‘Global Gateway’ initiative.
The DataSyn Team
THE NEW DIVERGENCE
A Tale of Twin Transitions: Why EU’s Green and Digital Agendas are at Odds
Cedric Leterme
The digital and green transitions have been a central pillar of the European Commission's (EC) policies over the past five years. Indeed, the EC has vaunted an approach that would purportedly make both projects work in perfect synergy, feeding off and complementing each other. Unfortunately, the exact opposite has come to pass. Cedric Leterme critically unpacks the failure of this vision, and a state of affairs where “the digital transition is making the EU even less sustainable, while the green transition is ending up favoring Big Tech.”
Read on.
THE POLICY TABLE
Championing an Industrial Policy for Public Good, not Corporate Profits
Bram Vranken
The EU policy bubble is abuzz with a new mantra: competitiveness. It is on the lips of every lobbyist, think tanker and policymaker in the EU and is set to play an important part in the work program of the next European Commission. Bram Vranken takes stock of this new enthusiasm for ‘industrial policy’ when it comes to the EU’s digital economy, and the many ways in which it can be co-opted and abused.
Read on.
THE BIG EXCESS
Soft Power Histrionics: Surveying the EU’s Global Gateway
Amay Korjan and Sandeep Radhakrishnan
One of the major recent developments in the EU’s external digital policy has been the announcement of its ‘Global Gateway’ program to invest in key areas of digital infrastructure across the developing world. What does this new undertaking reveal about the perspectives of European policymakers and what does it portend for digital economies in the Global South? Amay Korjan and Sandeep Radhakrishnan seek to provide an answer by digging into the brass tacks.
Read on.
The Sins & Synergies Lounge
Don’t miss Anu Bradford, discussing her latest book, ‘Digital Empires: The Global Battle To Regulate Technologies’ (Oxford UP, 2023), on this New Books Network Podcast. This book is the intellectual successor to her pioneering writing on the Brussels effect, as she explores the regulatory rivalries between the US, China, and the European Union over crucial issues of digital governance. As a companion piece, also check out this analysis by WIRED Magazine’s Morgan Meaker on the EU’s Digital Markets Act’s “breaking open” approach to Big Tech’s empires.
It is hard to ignore the debate on innovation in Europe, especially in the context of the recent debate on the “middle technology trap.” Asking ‘Why is Europe so far behind Silicon Valley?’, Harrison Stetler unpacks the waves created by the Mistral-Microsoft Partnership in the antitrust and technology circles in Brussels in this incisive commentary in the Jacobin Magazine.
It is crucial to re-center and interrogate the notion that AI is a socially and geopolitically important sector, and therefore worthy of government strategies and spending. Follow AI Now Institute’s pressing critique of the nationalist narratives and emergent industrial policies being proposed by governments with differing economic and geopolitical motivations.
A valuable tool in the repository for activists is this 6-week course by the Transnational Institute on Digital Capitalism that asks foundational questions such as what digital capitalism is, how and by whom it is being shaped, its implications for our economy, society and environment, and the possibilities for transformation. Also check out the Global Information Society Watch’s consideration of the importance of the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), its contemporary relevance, and the pathway to realizing its promises as an inclusive policy and governance mechanism 20 years since its first articulation.
In this dizzying discursive territory, make sure to check out Jovan Kurbalija’s timely disambiguation of the terms of ‘internet,’ ‘digital,’ and ‘AI’ governance on the Diplo Foundation’s blog. While you are there, take a look at this leisurely, but wide-ranging read by Daniele Gambetta on the Institute of Network Cultures blog that takes a critical look at the metaphors, imaginaries, and hype around large language models in their cultural moment.
Post-script
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