22 Apr 2026
EU faces mixed prospects in tech sovereignty, new policy brief finds
Analysing scientific output, technological performance and trade in critical goods, a new policy brief shows that the EU’s strengths and vulnerabilities differ sharply between fields such as Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Micro- and Nanoelectronics, Energy Harvesting and Life Sciences.
The EU remains comparatively strong and largely sovereign in Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, and retains solid scientific and industrial capacities in Life Sciences. It also possesses robust research and technological competences in Micro- and Nanoelectronics and Energy Harvesting. However, heavy dependence on imported microchips and China’s market dominance in energy technologies expose persistent material vulnerabilities.
In Artificial Intelligence, the EU is only weakly positioned overall, with pockets of scientific excellence but high dependence on external technologies and firms.
The brief argues that these challenges reflect longstanding global divisions of labour formed in more stable geopolitical times. It calls for a broad understanding of technological sovereignty that goes beyond import dependence to include control over knowledge, intellectual property and key firms’ R&D decisions.
Policy recommendations include building domestic capacities, concentrating resources in EU-level flagship initiatives, maintaining open scientific collaboration, monitoring one-sided dependencies and rigorously enforcing existing EU instruments against coercion and risky foreign investment.
The report can be downloaded here: