L’Europe peut-elle être souveraine ?

Digital, energy, industrial, and geopolitical sovereignty: the term has taken center stage in the European debate. But what is Europe really seeking behind this word? The ability to master its technologies, secure its supplies, defend its strategic interests, and speak with one voice in an increasingly conflict-ridden world? Or is it a political vision invoked precisely because the means to achieve it remain fragmented? War, trade tensions, technological dependencies, and energy shocks have brutally highlighted the cost of Europe’s vulnerabilities.

This session will therefore pose a question that is simple in its formulation but formidable in its implications: Can Europe become sovereign without becoming a full-fledged power? Does it possess the necessary industrial, political, financial, military, and democratic tools? And above all, can this sovereignty be built without renouncing the economic and political openness that has long been one of its main strengths?
Ultimately, the challenge is not merely to reduce dependencies, but to determine whether the Union can transform its recent strategic clarity into a capacity for sustainable, coherent, and politically committed action.