Digital sovereignty – European narratives, challenges for the rule of law and prospects for democracy

The European Union’s concept of digital sovereignty brings together three elements (the European Union, sovereignty and digitalisation) which, at first sight, cannot be put together without conflict. This applies in particular to the relationship between the European Union and sovereignty, but also to the contrast between digitisation and sovereignty. It is possible that the latter cannot be associated with Europe and that digitalisation will render it obsolete. Doesn’t digitisation mean that the good old sovereign will eventually be replaced by the young disruptive code?  Google swept Bodin away long ago! So why use a term that seems to be failing because of its internal contradictions?

 The conference will examine the question of what exactly is meant by digital sovereignty when it is used in political and legal discourse. Is the term just talk? Or is there more to it than that: does it have normative and political significance when it comes to justifying the European Union’s political action? And does this have consequences for EU law, and in particular for fundamental rights?

These questions raise nothing less than the problem of how liberal democracies can assert themselves or even develop under the conditions of global digitisation.

After an introduction to the paradigm of digital sovereignty as a model of the democratic rule of law in the global digital society, we will examine in four panels the normative content, political function and main areas of application of digital sovereignty. The concept:

• Serves as a justificatory narrative and is used strategically to underpin the European Union’s capacity for political action.
• Accompanies the genesis of a European cyberspace, understood as the guarantor of the EU’s internal and external security.
• Applies to the organisation of the area of freedom, security and justice.  It highlights the data and information exchange structures behind the players in a European criminal justice system.
• Is the subject of geopolitical challenges for the European Union in a multipolar world order.

The international conference will take place at the College of European and International Studies of the University of Pau and the Pays de l’Adour, on the Campus de la Nive, in Bayonne, on 12 and 13 June 2025.

It is free and open to the public, but registration is required at: maitena.poelemans@univ-pau.fr

The final programme will be posted soon.