With the economic and technological growths in China, the European Union has raised concerns among its members. The EU has a very wary eye on China, which is making huge investments in digital technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence (AI).
The EU fears that the Chinese tech investments could push Europe into a deep gulf of technological disparity in the long term. This further aggravates the concerns amongst theUnion countries as they have already been facing technological backsliding as compared to countries such as China and the US.
Most of China’s involvement in the EU has been focused on market access and infrastructure investments such as the 16+1 framework, where Chinese companies are joining hands with 16 Central and Eastern European countries.
The Union has now come up with a new initiative called the “Digital Europe Program” that aims to boost Europe’s digital capacity and shape the digital networks and services of the future by investing up to €9.2 billion. This would include investments in developing 5G networks, AI, quantum computing, blockchain technology, and cloud computing.
The EU has made effort to ensure that all the new investments would promote a European technological landscape that is secure and independent from outside powers such as China. Additionally, this program also seeks to improve Europe’s cyber security and data protection as well.
The European Union is wary of China’s impact on its digital and technological developments. The Digital Europe Program aims to counter these investments and protect Europe’s digital landscape from potentially dangerous external influence. The initiative also seeks to improve Europe’s technological capacity and cyber security, which would benefit the Union’s members in the long run.
