Europe’s digital sovereignty: From rulemaker to superpower in the age of US-China rivalry
The EU cannot continue to rely on its regulatory power but must become a tech superpower in its own right. Referees do not win the game.
Experts & Staff
José Ignacio Torreblanca
Head, ECFR Madrid
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Technology and geopolitics, EU strategic autonomy; disinformation and influence operations
Languages
Spanish, English
Biography
José Ignacio Torreblanca is a senior policy fellow and head of the Madrid office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since the launch of ECFR across Europe in 2007. Torreblanca is also Professor of Political Science at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid.
He is a weekly columnist in EL MUNDO as author of the blog “Café Steiner” and a weekly contributor on RNE (Spanish National Radio) and RTVE. Previously, he was Editorial Director of EL PAIS where he also authored a weekly column in the International Section and a blog.
Torreblanca holds a PhD in Political Science from the Complutense University of Madrid.
The EU’s budget and recovery fund deal – a historic moment for Europe?
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George Soros: “I am proud of the enemies I have”
From Putin to Trump, to Viktor Orban and Xi Jinping, several world leaders accuse the Hungarian magnate of wanting to bring them down. In Spain, his main enemy is Vox.
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Together in trauma: Europeans and the world after covid-19
A new survey shows that, after the onset of the covid-19 crisis, there has been a rise in public support for unified EU action to tackle global threats
Europe’s way out of the coronavirus crisis: from self-interest to solidarity?
The coronavirus crisis brought about financial hardship for the European Union, and many agree that a recovery fund would be needed to overcome it. In…
“Strength has to start at home”: Interview with Borrell on the EU’s response to the coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic started as a health crisis, but it will have long-term political, economic, and social implications. In an exclusive interview with the head of ECFR’s Madrid office, José Ignacio Torreblanca, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell assesses the European response to the crisis, its geopolitical consequences, and its effects on conflicts in Europe’s neighbourhood.
“The European Union is failing”: Exclusive Interview with Felipe González
Felipe González, former Prime Minister of the Spanish Government (1982-1996), was interviewed by José Ignacio Torreblanca, head of the Madrid Office and Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, as part of the series of interviews 'Spain and Europe in times of crisis'.
Bonding over coronabonds? How the financial question divides Europe
The EU members states have been caught up in a heated discussion on possible European ‘coronabonds’, a joint debt assistance by the Union to help…
How Brussels could get crisis management right this time
The EU got it wrong in the financial crisis – and paid a heavy price. But this time could be different.
Publications
Strategic interdependence: Europe’s new approach in a world of middle powers
Middle powers are shaping a fragmented world for which Europe is ill prepared. To protect its interests and values, the EU needs a foreign policy strategy that emphasises its wide range of interdependencies
Byting back: The EU’s digital alliance with Latin America and the Caribbean
The EU can counter Chinese and Russian influence through a digital alliance with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
The geopolitics of technology: How the EU can become a global player
The digital space is a key battleground in today’s global power struggles. For the EU to become a global player in the geopolitics of technology, it needs an ambitious external digital strategy – one that allows it to secure its interests, values, and standing in a world of intensifying geo-technological competition.
Geo-tech politics: Why technology shapes European power
New technologies are a significant force shaping international relations. If the EU wants to be more than a mediator between the US and China, it will need to change its mindset.
Europe’s digital sovereignty: From rulemaker to superpower in the age of US-China rivalry
The EU cannot continue to rely on its regulatory power but must become a tech superpower in its own right. Referees do not win the game.
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Together in trauma: Europeans and the world after covid-19
A new survey shows that, after the onset of the covid-19 crisis, there has been a rise in public support for unified EU action to tackle global threats
Border games: Has Spain found an answer to the populist challenge on migration?
Spain, and Europe, need a new story about migration – it remains to be seen how the country will put this into practice
How to govern a fragmented EU: What Europeans said at the ballot box
The results of the European election confront EU leaders with a considerable challenge: navigating a new, more fragmented, and polarised political environment
The Eurosceptic surge and how to respond to it
Pro-Europeans should create space for battles between competing visions of Europe
Articles
Critical material: The EU’s and Chile’s new relationship in the multipolar world
The EU’s and Chile’s enhanced association agreement will strengthen Europeans’ place in the “à la carte” world. The bloc should continue to tackle its dependencies and build mutually beneficial relations with countries across the globe
Onwards and outwards: Why the EU needs to move from strategic autonomy to strategic interdependence
Strategic autonomy is a defensive strategy that sends the wrong message to the world. The EU should instead accept that interdependencies are not only inevitable but desirable, and cultivate them with its allies and partners
Showdown: What to expect from Spain’s general election
While Spain’s People’s Party leads the polls, obscure alliances and voter concerns leave the country’s future direction – and its impact on next year’s European Parliament elections – uncertain
Digital diplomacy: How to unlock the Global Gateway’s potential in Latin America and the Caribbean
If the Global Gateway is to compete with the Belt and Road Initiative, it must go big, green, digital, and ethical. And it can prove it in Latin America
Ukraine one year on: When tech companies go to war
The war in Ukraine has reinforced the strategic role of global tech giants in defence and security policy. NATO and the EU should learn from this as they try to deter future aggressors
Insights from an AI author: The geopolitical consequences of ChatGPT
ChatGPT seems set to shake up the technology industry, but its implications for geopolitics are less clear. We asked ChatGPT what these might be
Ukraine, Europe, and the power of association: A new way to help aspiring EU states
A new compact could allow Ukraine, Balkans states and others to move closer to the EU and drive reform more powerfully than the current rigid rules
Why Ukraine has won the right to join NATO
The new European security order should be based on Ukraine’s security, not Russia’s. This will require Ukraine to join NATO and the EU.
Views from the capitals: Russia’s war on Ukraine
The conflict in Ukraine will change Europe forever. Experts from across ECFR’s network of offices describe the view of the war from Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Sofia, and Warsaw.
The virtual front line: How EU tech power can help Ukraine
The EU cannot play a direct military role in Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. But, through its support for Ukraine in the digital realm, the union can establish itself as a leader in global tech geopolitics.
Podcasts
The European pulse: the election and beyond
Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin, Piotr Buras, Jana Puglierin, Maria Simeonova, José Ignacio Torreblanca, and Arturo Varvelli to discuss the European Parliament elections and the future of European politics
Spain and Poland at the ballot box: what’s next for Europe?
Mark Leonard welcomes José Ignacio Torreblanca and Piotr Buras to discuss recent developments in Spanish and Polish politics and their impact on Europe
The future of European politics
Mark Leonard welcomes the heads of ECFR’s national offices to discuss key players outside the traditional halls of European power
The geopolitics of technology
The EU is often described as a “regulatory superpower” benefitting from the so-called “Brussels effect.” But is the bloc also able to set its own rules and standards when it comes to new technologies?
Understanding the conflict in Western Sahara
What is the Western Sahara conflict is all about, and how will the most recent developments between Morocco and Spain influence this conflict?
Stranger in Moscow: Borrell’s unwelcome visit
What lessons can be drawn from Josep Borrell’s controversial visit to Moscow?
An interview with Anne Applebaum and José Ignacio Torreblanca
Head of ECFR’s Madrid Office, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca talks to the American historian, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Gulag, and expert on authoritarian populism about…
Anxious allies: European sovereignty after the US election
How much impact does the future US president have on the very concept of European sovereignty? Will the idea and initiatives to build more strategic autonomy in Europe be put back to bed with Joe Biden in the White House?
Conquering the cyber sphere: How the EU can build digital sovereignty
Europe’s digital transformation and sovereignty has become a question of existential importance. But what does it actually mean to be digital sovereign? Host Mark Leonard…
The EU’s budget and recovery fund deal – a historic moment for Europe?
The over 90-hour European Council summit in Brussels ended with a deal on a €1.82 trillion financial package. What does…
Events
20 Jul
La Cumbre UE-CELAC y la Presidencia Española: Próximos pasos
El 20 de julio ECFR celebró una reunión virtual a puerta cerrada para intercambiar perspectivas sobre los resultados alcanzados en la Cumbre UE-CELAC del 17-18 julio y la posterior hoja de ruta durante la Presidencia española del Consejo de la UE
28 Oct
Debate público sobre la Alianza Digital entre la Unión Europea y América Latina y el Caribe
En su reunión (virtual) del 2 de diciembre de 2021, los jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de la UE y América Latina y el Caribe…
29 Mar
The birth of geopolitical Europe: In conversation with Josep Borrell
With the EU’s High Representative as our honoured guest, the panel will explore the birth of a geopolitical Europe and the new dimensions of European power with a focus on the tech, economic, and security terrains
22 Mar
La Hora de la Sociedad Civil: Un Diálogo Transatlántico sobre Venezuela
Este debate fue una iniciativa del Foro Cívico, de la Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos (WOLA), el Open Society Foundations (OSF) y el European…
10 Mar
The EU and Japan: Strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific
In collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Madrid, ECFR has organised a public virtual debate to explore how the EU and the Indo-Pacific can build a strategic alliance and how the EU-Japan relationship can drive this process
14 Dec
Cooperación Tecnológica Transatlántica: Cómo hacer que el Consejo de Comercio y Tecnología sea un éxito
Esta es la primera reunión de nuestra iniciativa en ECFR diseñada para acompañar a las negociaciones oficiales del Consejo de Comercio y Tecnología (TTC) entre…
7 Jun
La Crisis Hispano-Marroquí
Con motivo de la escalada de tensión en las relaciones bilaterales entre España y Marruecos, y ante la previsible duración de la presente crisis, ECFR…
9 Dec
Una amistad llamada Europa. Recoger el testigo
No hay aspiraciones colectivas sin inspiración, ni futuro sin memoria. Seguir construyendo Europa sobre relaciones de confianza es hoy más necesario que nunca.
25 Nov
In the media
Strategic autonomy is a concept that divides Europeans between ourselves
José Ignacio Torreblanca comments on the varying interpretations of strategic autonomy by European countries
For many EU smaller countries, strategic autonomy is a term that promotes French or German interests
José Ignacio Torreblanca explains the different European approaches on strategic autonomy
The debate in Europe is what might happen if Trump is re-elected and, therefore, there will be a very deep discussion about the need to increase defence spending and strengthen defence policy
José Ignacio Torreblanca explains what would happen if Trump wins the US elections regarding the war in Ukraine and EU Defence policies
The new agreement with Chile demonstrates that the EU is making progress in navigating the emerging multipolar world à la carte. It is able to put in place the necessary strategies and agreements.
José Ignacio Torreblanca analyses the new relationship between the EU and Chile in the á la carte multipolar world
There’ll be two very tense days in parliament on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s going to be very rough. I think we’re going to hear terrible things and that, logically, is going to stir people up.
José Ignacio Torreblanca on Spain’s new amnesty law