Project title

The political economy of the EU’s digital interdependency: case studies from Germany and EU-level regulation

Abstract

This cumulative dissertation project explores the changing position of the European Union (EU) within the global architecture of the digital economy through empirical case studies. The project conceptualizes digital economy as a complex and tightly integrated transnational system of technology supply characterized by a significant concentration of techno-economic power among industry actors and national economies. Over the last decade, this system has been influenced by new geopolitical tensions, such as the increasing US-China rivalry. While the EU’s position in the globalized value chains of the digital sector remains relatively weak, diverse industrial-policy interventions have recently been introduced to enhance the bloc’s international competitiveness and security. The project contributes to the ongoing debate about the EU’s evolving position in the global digital sector by investigating selected regulatory, value-chain, and institutional developments at the EU- and member-state levels. The country-level analyses concentrate on Germany as a key contributor to the bloc’s digital economy. The project aims to improve our understanding of global value chain dynamics, industrial-policy interventions, and the changing international economic order in the digital sector from the perspective of the EU.

Start of the doctorate

2023