Publication 21 July 2026

“Building Europe’s future Together”, a contribution to technological sovereignty

As part of the Franco-British Strategic Dialogue "Building Europe's Future Together", Renaissance Numérique contributed to a joint reflection on the major priorities facing contemporary Europe. Our text is part of an unprecedented exercise in dialogue between French and British think tanks, dedicated to three major challenges: European security, technological sovereignty, and the resilience of democratic societies.

Renaissance Numérique took part in the Franco-British Strategic Dialogue “Building Europe’s Future Together”, launched by the Haut-commissariat à la Stratégie et au Plan. This initiative brings together French and British think tanks around three major issues:

  • European security,
  • Technological competition,
  • The resilience of democratic societies.

Against a backdrop marked by the resurgence of power rivalries, the acceleration of digital transformation, and the erosion of public discourse, our contribution advocates a simple idea: Europe must strengthen its capacity for collective action. The Franco-British relationship, beyond existing institutional frameworks, remains a key driver for developing joint responses to the continent’s strategic challenges.

Renaissance Numérique contributed to this collective exercise by offering a perspective centered on digital transformation and technological sovereignty issues. Our contribution starts from a simple observation: European challenges can no longer be addressed separately. The security of the continent, control over digital infrastructure, the use of artificial intelligence, and the strength of democratic debate are now closely intertwined.

With this in mind, our contribution highlights the need to strengthen European capacity for action in the face of strategic dependencies, to regulate the use of digital technologies in ways that protect civil liberties, and to consolidate democratic resilience against informational manipulation and social fractures.

Our six proposals are as follows:

PROPOSALS

Proposal 1

Establish, as part of a joint Franco-British initiative in coordination with the Commission, a shared mapping of critical technological dependencies and the thresholds beyond which the Union's sovereignty is compromised, in order to guide the allocation of investments and joint programs.

Proposal 2

Incorporate into the joint dependency mapping a specific analysis of breakthrough technologies, in order to coordinate upstream investment and anticipate Europe's future points of vulnerability.

Proposal 3

Make the Franco-British dialogue a laboratory for targeted industrial coalitions, bringing together businesses, research centers, public authorities, and civil society actors around a few shared value chains (semiconductors, high-performance computing, cybersecurity), with cross-financing mechanisms and governance open to other Member States.

Proposal 4

Develop a “strategic coherence” roadmap between regulation and technological sovereignty, identifying, for each major sectoral text (data, AI, cybersecurity, etc.), concrete levers for strengthening European industrial capabilities, as well as the human, financial, and institutional resources needed for their effective implementation. This roadmap must embrace the political challenge of giving regulatory authorities and public decision-makers the resources and mandate to enforce the rules without backing down in the face of economic or geopolitical pressure

Proposal 5

Promote, within the Franco-British dialogue, a “partnership method” for European technological sovereignty, combining: financing tools and public procurement geared toward innovation and the upgrading of European offerings, without falling into an obligation for autarkic purchasing; risk-sharing mechanisms between states, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and private investors on projects of shared strategic interest; spaces for democratic deliberation involving civil society on the uses of AI and critical technologies, so as to anchor technological sovereignty in a shared societal project, rather than solely in a logic of competition between blocs.

Proposal 6

Make the Franco-British dialogue the starting point for a “digital and AI for the common good” agenda, combining: the large-scale development of digital and AI literacy (schools, lifelong learning, support for vulnerable groups) to enable citizens to understand, critique, and shape their own uses of technology; a joint training program for decision-makers on the key is sues at stake (societal, technological, political, economic, legislative, etc.), to build a shared vision and common language; structured support for ecosystems of public-interest projects (civic tech, digital commons, AI for civil society organizations) through dedicated funding, shared infrastructure, and secure access to public-interest data; the widespread adoption of participatory and democratic experimentation mechanisms, so that the rules and uses of technology are co-constructed with citizens and regions, rather than left solely in the hands of large private actors.

This collective effort also led to the publication, in L’Express, of an op-ed titled “Ten years after Brexit, Europe needs the Franco-British Partnership: A Call from Researchers” calling for stronger cooperation between France, the United Kingdom, and the European Union in the areas of defense, technology, and democracy.

More on this subject