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Brussels latest buzzword is ‘digital sovereignty’. But the EU’s plans will make Europe less competitive, not more.
European leaders are chasing the dream of ‘digital sovereignty’ – the illusion that Europe can wall off its tech ecosystem, build a self-sufficient digital empire, and regulate its way to global dominance. But in The Grand Delusion, Dr. Norman Lewis completely dismantles this dangerous myth.
The brutal reality is that no nation on Earth – not even the United States or China – is completely sovereign across the modern technology stack. Yet, the European Union’s response has been to unleash a suffocating ‘regulatory stack’ that acts as a tax on innovation, driving away capital and hollowing out the very startups meant to challenge global giants.
This report exposes how the EU’s technocratic death-grip has hobbled attempts by European companies to compete internationally. The report argues that the EU must abandon the dead-end of digital sovereignty for the reality of international competition.
Europe has many natural advantages, but European innovation must be unshackled from the EU.
About the author
Dr Norman Lewis is a Visiting Research Fellow at MCC Brussels and an internationally recognised expert on technology, innovation and digital transformation. He previously served as Director of Technology Research at Orange and as a Director at PwC.
