The Protection of Technology Sovereignty in the EU: Policy, Powers and the Legal Reality

Technology sovereignty has emerged in the EU political and policy arena, both as an objective and as a policy framework which emphasises the strategic autonomy and critical capacity of Europe in developing and/or supplying the globally competitive technologies which are necessary for its economic and social development. Its implementation requires action across multiple policy areas, such as technology, industry and security policy, which poses a challenge for the EU to deliver on its newly found ambitions in the technological domain. Technology sovereignty has a robust security dimension, which also covers the national security risks of technologies, and in the current state of its competences the EU is unable to act as a fully competent security actor.