Deregulation disguised as Sovereignty

A draft version of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy (ITRE) own-initiative report on technological sovereignty and digital infrastructures was published today by Contexte. While such reports do not carry direct legislative weight, they are often seen as significant precursors to legislations, serving as calls for the European Commission to take action.

This particular report has been spearheaded by MEP Sarah Knafo, a member of the far-right French party “Reconquête!”. Along with the movement’s founder, Eric Zemmour, she was one of the few European politicians invited to Donald Trump’s inauguration. Knafo‘s alignment with Trumpian political circles is well documented.

The report seems to draw on three main sources of inspiration:

• The European Commission’s existing strategies regarding competitiveness and digital infrastructures, which appear to enjoy broad cross-party consensus and is largely informed by the alarmist tone of the Draghi report.
• Some of the French government’s policy priorities, particularly in areas such as cloud sovereignty and nuclear energy.
• Advocates of deregulation, influential in both Big Tech and the far right, as evidenced by the creation of a “Department of Government Efficiency” in the US under the informal supervision of Elon Musk.

In line with this, the report makes no mention of critical challenges such as questioning surveillance capitalism, curbing political interference and manipulation through social media, or creating more robust public digital spaces.

A Deregulation Agenda for Europe

Instead, it promotes a “One-In, Two-Out” rule, similar to an executive order signed by Trump during his first term, to eliminate two regulations for every new one enacted. The overarching discourse is against existing EU regulations, which are blamed for the challenges facing European businesses. Indeed, the report highlights that “European regulations increase administrative burdens and costs for local companies without effectively countering the dominance of foreign giants”. This is a narrative that tech billionaires and their corporate lobbyists will no doubt welcome.

What is more concerning is that elements of this deregulatory push are already present in the discourse of the European Commission, among other political parties, or in discussions at the EU AI Summit. In these discussions, it seems that regulation is just an abstract bureaucratic hurdle–it is not about technology and democracy, or enforcing environmental and privacy laws demanded by the public. It is simply about business–in other words, ensuring that the richest and most powerful people continue to define what is right for the future, and that other people continue to mind their own business.

Cross-party Consensus to Support European Industry

In many cases, the report also builds on a number of measures that are very similar to those in the European Commission’s existing agenda. The report uses the alarmist framing of Europe’s digital dependency found in the Draghi report, among others. In this Knafo report, the threats to Europe’s competitiveness – whether in chips, cloud or connectivity – serve as a clear justification for deregulation, corporate consolidation and tax incentives that should benefit large industrial players. However, some of the measures proposed, such as a European preference in public procurement or the extension of industrial policy instruments such as the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI), may find consensus among policymakers, provided they are accompanied by the necessary safeguards in terms of respect for competition, privacy or environmental frameworks.

The report also reflects distinct French strategic priorities. The report argues that “sensitive data must be hosted on sovereign infrastructures, protected from foreign extraterritorial laws”, and advocates for the adoption of an EU Cloud Certification Scheme that would be aligned with the requirements of the SecNumCloud standard developed in France. It also for instance “calls on the Commission to reform the European electricity market (…) by re-establishing a framework that allows nuclear power to supply competitive and stable electricity”.

A Counter-Report to Bring in the Interests of the Public?

This report is a stark reminder of how the rhetoric of sovereignty can be co-opted by nationalist agendas that ultimately serve corporate giants rather than the public interest. True self-determination and empowerment should not be about creating another hegemonic giant–it should be about fostering collaboration, accountability and collective oversight to build trust in digital infrastructures.

Encouragingly, Contexte reports that a “counter-report” is being discussed among democratic groups in the European Parliament. Such an initiative would be an important step towards a truly public perspective on digital infrastructures–one that prioritizes policies that work for all citizens, not just corporate interests.