Digital Strategic Autonomy in the EU’s External Action

Lecture Series – The European Union as global international actor: strategic autonomy in a changing international context

The Department of Law of the FDEF, with the support of the FNR and the Erasmus + Programme of the European Commission, and in collaboration with the Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL), is organising this lecture.

Abstract

The lecture maps the content of digital external relations law of the EU and the space of digital strategic autonomy therein. Global challenges increasingly permeate all areas of EU action beyond conventional external relations law. Although a field where the EU has had undeniable first-mover advantage, digital law, policy and governance arguably appears no different as a global challenge. Yet EU digital policies are replete with references to global leadership but contain often minimal references to international law. The EU is understood to be asserting its own digital policy approach rooted in human rights against the global inﬂuence of the market-centred approach of the US and China’s state-led model. Despite being understood to lag behind, it has also demonstrated the global successes of its first-mover stance and high standards. However, a sharp distinction may be seen towards the highly regulated ‘hard’ internal EU laws as to the digital and the emerging morass of soft external relations law on digital matters in digital partnerships and the ‘hardening’ edges of EU sanctions law. In between lie many key legal concepts such as data transfers, not per se part of the EU’s iconic GDPR but referenced increasingly in external relations eg trade agreements- but to a degree also digital strategic autonomy. The lecture maps the span of digital strategic autonomy, a term with minimal use in EU law. It explores its span with ranges directly and indirectly to a variety of fields from the CFSP, industrial policy, to the external effects of the internal digital governance transformation including digital value chains competition enforcement. It argues that a considerable mismatch between trade and technology in external relations law as well as competition law characterises EU digital external relations. Digital strategic autonomy does not eclipse digital external relations however irrespective of its offensive character nor form part of its content easily. Digital external relations shows many successes and global leads but also a highly disconnected field with a plethora of internal legislative examples with complex external effects and externalities.

Discussants:

Stefan Braum, Professor of European and International (Economic) Criminal Law at the University of Luxembourg, Dean of the FDEF (2012-2017), International Chair on Sovereign Europe (CILES)
Herwig Hofmann, Professor of European and Transnational Public Law at the University of Luxembourg, Head of the Department of Law (2020-2024), PI of the DTU DILLAN (DIgitalLsation Law And INnovation)