EU need for ‘digital sovereignty’ does not mean protectionism, German minister says

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BERLIN (Reuters) -Europe needs to build up its own digital infrastructure to reduce dependence on U.S. providers, but that does not mean turning away from them completely, Germany’s digital minister Karsten Wildberger told Reuters.

Some Europeans, unsettled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade wars to promote U.S. interests, have begun seeking alternatives to the digital services sphere dominated by U.S. tech firms. 

To achieve digital sovereignty, Germany and the European Union need to “actively participate in this (sector) as players,” not as customers, as is the case now, he said in an interview this week. 

“There is a huge growth market for technology, innovation, software, data and artificial intelligence,” he said. 

Germany and Europe have produced global leaders in their fields, such as Mistral AI, DeepL and Aleph Alpha, he said. 

But Wildberger said U.S. companies are still far ahead in sectors such as artificial intelligence and will be needed as partners on Germany’s path to its own business models. 

“Digital sovereignty doesn’t mean protectionism. We want to and must be accessible for the global market,” Wildberger said. 

“U.S. companies of course also continue to be interested in doing business abroad,” he said when asked about concerns that Trump could bring about a sudden end to transatlantic cooperation.

But he said that German companies needed to be able to choose between alternatives, for example by choosing where data is stored and who operates the infrastructure.

Digital sovereignty also entailed rethinking an entire long and complex supply chain, which stretches from rare earths and chip design to servers and cables, Wildberger added. 

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke. Writing by Miranda Murray. Editing by Jane Merriman)