The European Union’s Approach to Strategic Technology Governance: The Case of AI

Strategic technologies have gained pivotal significance in the context of a return to great power politics, and with it, questions about their governance and regulation. These global developments have particular resonance for the European Union (EU)—the world’s largest trading bloc with a strong commitment to a rules-based international system and far-reaching regulatory powers over its internal market. The changing global landscape raises pertinent questions about the EU’s response to these challenges. Traditionally, the EU has approached the governance of technologies from the perspective of their economic and societal impact. However, from the early 2020s onwards, in line with the broader turn towards geopoliticization, there has been an increasing recognition of the strategic and security dimensions of new technologies. This article focuses on the analysis of the EU’s regulatory activity in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in order to develop an understanding of the way in which the EU positions itself in this regulatory space within the evolving global context. Towards this aim, the article conceptualises possible regulatory activity along the lines of four analytical dimensions: the degree of institutionalised international cooperation, the legal character of the governance adopted, the respective roles of the public and private sectors and the relative influence of international and national interest drivers. The EU’s approach to strategic technology governance is then mapped and categorised along these dimensions. Based on the findings, the article reflects on its conclusion on the EU’s capacity to navigate the tensions between internal preferences, its global governance aspirations and geopolitical competition.