Europe wants to achieve tech sovereignty from China and the US. One of the most pressing issues is the use of Chinese technology in its internet systems. The EU is mulling a ban, but will member states comply?
The joint attendance of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at an event in Berlin on Tuesday (November 18) aimed at bolstering Europe's technological independence suggests they mean business on the topic.
Europe's struggle to keep pace with the US and China on tech and digital innovation — from artificial intelligence, to semiconductor production, to cloud computing — has been blamed for the continent's sluggish economic growth and apparently bleak prospects.
The Berlin gathering, titled the "Summit on European Digital Sovereignty," focused on the risks of dependence on China and the US for increasingly critical infrastructure.
"Digital sovereignty has costs, but the costs of digital dependence are even higher," said Merz, while Macron said he did not want Europe to be a client of the US or China, or a "vassal."
"We clearly want
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