This @politico.eu piece threatens a reality checks against a position that, uh, no one has been advocating for. They erect a strawman position backed by no quote or reference according to which European tech sovereignty involves "decoupling" from the world. Huh? www.politico.eu/article/euro... - ThreadSky

robin.berjon.com • 19 days ago

This @politico.eu piece threatens a reality checks against a position that, uh, no one has been advocating for.

They erect a strawman position backed by no quote or reference according to which European tech sovereignty involves "decoupling" from the world.

Huh?
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-dream-wean-itself-off-us-tech-gets-reality-check/

Comments

wildebees.bsky.social•19 days ago

I'd argue that European tech sovereignty if taken seriously, most certainly requires decoupling from US digital platforms. And it's not unrealistic.

Decoupling in other areas like chips is indeed unrealistic, not just for Europe, but for everybody.

qmaqdk.bsky.social•19 days ago

And yet China seems to be doing so. It’s all about timeline. And we don’t need isolationism. We just need common sense (like don’t get all our gas from Russia).

wildebees.bsky.social•19 days ago

Agree. Europe had successful social networking sites, like the Netherlands with Hives - which was eventually displaced by Facebook due to network effects.

It's not technically beyond Europe's means. But it would need European legislation to protect the creation of such platforms.

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

Different infrastructure segments require different approaches and work with different ideas of independence.

I don't think that US cloud needs to be entirely forgone, though it certainly cannot be used by any administration or operation that considers itself critical.

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

But that's not decoupling! It doesn't lead to a world in which European companies can't use US cloud or you can't access US cloud services.

It's just about resilience and good governance.

wildebees.bsky.social•19 days ago

Self rule (monitoring, setting standards, controlling algorithms, interoperability) will not be enough, if it does not impact local capital investment, productivity, employment, skills transfers and protects against foreign choke points.

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

It's only self-rule if you have power, but you seem to be selecting a list of things to describe it that don't include power.

wildebees.bsky.social•19 days ago

The impression I get from what you write is that it's enough for Europe to regulate big tech? To meet my requirements at the bare minimum they would have to have local subsidiaries, preferably with 50% local ownership. They can interoperate, but intellectual property and operations in Europe.

handle.invalid•19 days ago

I don't know if decoupling as in not suing US platforms is needed. I think choice and real, competitive alternatives are very much needed though.

wildebees.bsky.social•19 days ago

Most digital platforms tend to natural monopolies.

Most people don't want choice they want usefulness. And choice does not address productivity, capital markets, employment and skills transfers in the EU, if it does not develop it's own successful platforms.

mcneely.online•19 days ago

Absolutely shocked that Politico would erect a strawman argument that most people aren't actually claiming. Well, not that shocked. 🙃

marypcbuk.bsky.social•19 days ago

I’m at a data centre industry event this week and the balancing act between fear of what the US is doing that destabilises their market and eyebrow raising at the very first regulation they’ve faced from the EU (which admittedly has been pretty badly designed*) is fascinating to see

marypcbuk.bsky.social•19 days ago

*the EU managed to preemptively exempt exactly the inefficient smaller players, whose data centre consume the most power and deliver the least compute, who the regulations needed to do the most to incentivise to improve. ‘Decentralised’ infrastructure is a mess

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

Oof

marypcbuk.bsky.social•19 days ago

It’s a mess but it’s a mess where it’s pretty easy to see what they got wrong and there is a redrafting coming up, so hoping they can circle back and deal with it (and we can maybe push that a bit to shift the narrative)

marypcbuk.bsky.social•19 days ago

it’s easy to see why they would think starting with the big players made sense but they’re not the problem here because they already have huge incentives to be efficient; it’s the small players who get enough out of a horrible inefficient system who need a fire lit under them

qmaqdk.bsky.social•19 days ago

“Free article usually reserved for subscribers.” I wonder why.

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

Sovereignty isn't about decoupling, it's about self-rule. It's about democratic control over our the infrastructure of everyday life.

It requires investment and change, yes, but no decoupling. I've heard that strawman from Big Tech lobbyists a lot; I didn't expect Politico to just reprint it.

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

The article then goes into some vague considerations regarding innovation. It's unclear how that's relevant?

Tech monopolies weren't built with innovation and they won't be broken by innovation.

I discussed all this in my #rp25 talk:
https://youtu.be/BbqZvp7D_nY

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

If you want to understand tech sovereignty in Europe better than from that coverage, the European Way report is now available in four languages:

https://tumthinktank.de/de/output/der-europaeische-weg/

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

And the theory behind digital sovereignty is discussed at length in: https://berjon.com/digital-sovereignty/

robin.berjon.com•19 days ago

Anyway, if you have a made-up position that you need reality-checked, I've got a subscription to sell you!

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