EU to launch 'Digital Diplomacy' initiative this year amid tensions with the US

The European Commission is planning to launch a communication on EU "Digital Diplomacy" to develop partnerships with like-minded countries in the first half of this year, a source familiar with the process has told Euronews. 

Representatives of the Commission last week made efforts to strengthen ties and digital partnerships with Singapore and India and are seeking contact with others. 

For example, the Commission agreed to strengthen resilience of semiconductor supply chains with India, as well as progress with the development of green and clean technologies.

Meanwhile the digital relationship with the US – the bloc’s largest trading partner – is worsening after President Donald Trump slammed EU digital laws after taking office in January. Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Committee on Monday told an audience at Mobile World Congress, that the EU’s Digital Services Act is "an attack on free speech".

A Trade and Technology Council (TTC) – a forum between the two regions to coordinate common efforts on trade and technology policy – exists with India, besides this, the Commission has a Digital Partnership with Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore and a cooperation with Australia.

According to a Commission official, the bloc is in close contact with like-minded countries with whom it has no TTC or Digital partnerships yet. Those could be formalised in the future, but no formal steps have been made yet.

A TTC with the US was started under the Von der Leyen Commission and Biden administration in 2021, aiming to improve ties between the two regions. Both the EU and US went to the polls this year, which made the future of the forum uncertain, though cooperation work at technical level still continues.

Historical ties

Late last year member states called on the Commission to make formation of digital alliances less reliant on EU executive decisions and involve the 27 EU countries more, according to minutes of meetings with telecom attaches at the time, seen by Euronews.

They suggested exploring existing historical ties enjoyed by member states such as Belgium, Spain and Portugal with countries in Africa and South America. 

In their discussions, countries agreed to make security a priority, when it comes to submarine cables, data flows and storage, as well as critical raw materials.

The communication on Digital Diplomacy would follow up on a decision by member states in July 2022 to adopt a concerted European approach to the challenges posed by new digital technologies, as well as to scale up EU leadership on global digital rules.

Last year, foreign affairs ministers taking stock of progress on digital diplomacy in recent years noted that digital issues have shifted from technical to more key strategic and political importance. 

“The discussion highlighted the importance of digital issues and of emerging technologies for an integrated EU foreign policy and the need to work together as Team Europe,” the EU’s External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement at the time.