The International Digital Strategy (IDS), announced on the 5th of June, establishes a general strategy for the EU when engaging internationally on digital matters. The main goals expressed in the IDS are to build and expand on the current landscape of EU international partnerships rather than reinventing it. The strategy is a necessary step forward to coordinate EU action in one of the most increasingly important arms of EU digital policy: diplomacy.
The extent of current EU partnerships is recognized in the IDS with initiatives such as Digital Partnerships, Trade and Technology Councils, Digital Dialogues, and, it seeks to build on this. By building on, expanding, and interconnecting its existing digital diplomacy network the EU has the opportunity to create a platform for cooperation and discussion that positions itself and its member states as central players.
Nevertheless what is promised in the strategy has to be nuanced with the reality of the existing EU international digital partnerships. While partnering can be beneficial in various ways it is also true that the EU has invested efforts in partnerships that have not been particularly effective. Cases include the Trade and Technology Councils, the one with the US being paralyzed since the new Trump administration, and the one with India leading to little results because of the political differences with the EU.
A recurrent theme in the strategy is to place the EU as a predictable and reliable partner in an unstable and fragmenting international context. After the weakening of the transatlantic partnership, doubling down on multilateralism could be beneficial for the EU. First, because it can help it expand the credibility of its ambitious digital agenda. Second, because of the potential positive impact in positioning the EU as a rules-shaper instead of adapting to them. Third, because it is a necessary step to exercise strategic autonomy: obtaining a breathing space in an era of increased protectionist pushes.
But regardless of the wishes that the strategy paints, it does not directly address the elephant in the room: the EU’s dependencies towards major players such as the U.S. or China as the driving factor for new engagements. A dependency that has been growing in sectors such as digital platforms, hardware, and software, which the EU has tried to reduce. To position itself as a safe, stable and reliable partner, recognising dependencies in the context of a more coherent external action is necessary to evaluate in full honesty the limits of its impact and avoid overpromising results.
The real challenge of the strategy will be to convince that cooperation is a true winner to manage the uncertainty that comes with geopolitics and the speed of technological development. Particularly in a moment where cooperation and regulation are being increasingly perceived as the opposite.
By Mateo Gerschel, Technology Diplomacy and Partnerships Assistant.
