EU Digital Sovereignty
table of contents about

The structure of dependence in European technology

Europe enters 2026 regulatorily sovereign and industrially dependent.

The framework

The conventional narrative of European weakness misses the actual question. It isn't what Europe lacks — it's how the dependencies are structured.

Table of contents

This is a working framework for thinking about that structure: where Europe stands, what alternatives actually exist, who Europe should partner with, what to do contractually and architecturally, and how far regulation alone can go.

The framework

  • Adversarial (China), extraterritorial (USA), concentration (no geopolitics). Each requires a different defensive architecture. Confusing them produces strategy that defends against the wrong threat.

    Read: the risk landscape →

    • The bit layer (where data lives).
    • The interpretation layer (the ability to read it without the vendor).
    • The instrumentation layer (who controls the lifecycle of the tools).

    Dependencies in each layer have qualitatively different consequences.

    Read: three layers of digital autonomy →

  • A pragmatic middle ground between costly autarky and unsustainable total dependency, articulated by Forrester analyst Dario Maisto. The minimum set of contractual, architectural, and operational measures that preserves the right of exit when any single dependency turns into a crisis.

Contents

  1. 1. Diagnosis
    1. 1.1 The risk landscape
    2. 1.2 Three layers of digital autonomy
    3. 1.3 Mapping the dependencies
    4. 1.4 The matrix of regional self-sufficiency

    Where Europe stands: the risk landscape, the dependency map, the layered framework of digital sovereignty.

  2. 2. Alternatives
    1. 2.1 Cloud and managed services
    2. 2.2 Productivity software
    3. 2.3 Identity and access management
    4. 2.4 AI alternatives
    5. 2.5 Processor architecture

    What Europe actually has: cloud, productivity, identity, AI, and processor architecture.

  3. 3. Partnerships
    1. 3.1 Strategy and overview
    2. 3.2 South Korea
    3. 3.3 Japan
    4. 3.4 Taiwan
    5. 3.5 United States
    6. 3.6 India

    Whom Europe should invite in: a partnership map for the post-Magdeburg world.

  4. 4. Operations
    1. 4.1 Build vs buy: redistribution of responsibility
    2. 4.2 The contractual checklist
    3. 4.3 The 24-month roadmap

    What to do Monday: contractual instruments and a 24-month roadmap.

  5. 5. Enforcement
    1. 5.1 The GDPR record
    2. 5.2 The DMA record
    3. 5.3 Selective vendor exit
    4. 5.4 U.S. retaliation
    5. 5.5 The balance: regulation needs alternatives

    How far regulation alone can go — and why it needs alternatives to have leverage.