Towards European Sovereignty

European industrial sovereignty has become a central issue in the Union's economic and geopolitical debates. It refers to the EU's ability to remain internationally competitive while controlling its industrial value chains, producing strategic goods autonomously and reducing its dependence on foreign powers, particularly the US and China.

Its emergence can be explained by several factors: the health crisis (COVID-19), the war in Ukraine impacting energy dependency, Sino-American trade tensions and the demands of the ecological and digital transition, which require scarce resources.

To meet these challenges, the EU has activated several levers: investment plans (NextGenerationEU, REPowerEU), common industrial policies, targeted subsidies (IPCEI), supply chain regulation (Critical Raw Materials Act), more flexible competition law and a framework for foreign subsidies.

However, major challenges persist: fragmentation of the internal market, lack of coordination, external dependencies, technological backwardness and tension between sovereignty and free trade.
The Union is seeking to build an “open strategic autonomy”, based on innovation, targeted relocation, diversification of supplies and sustainable partnerships with reliable countries such as Canada and Japan.