A DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY STRATEGY: WHY EUROPE MUST CONTROL ITS OWN TECH FUTURE

For several decades now, we have witnessed the dawn of the digital age, considered the fourth industrial revolution, along with AI. An industrial revolution that, despite contemporary history, Europe is losing. That continent was the birthplace of all previous industrial revolutions, where innovation was exported worldwide, where "Made in Europe" was valued in every corner of the globe for its expertise, quality, and cutting-edge technology.

The technological and AI revolution is at its peak. Innovation is advancing more rapidly, scientific discoveries are being made more easily and with less time-consuming delays, and technological products, online services, and artificial intelligence tools are being mass-produced. In this battle, Europe is lagging behind. We hear a lot about the names of the world's most famous social networks: "Instagram," "Facebook," "WhatsApp," "Threads," "X," "Discord," "Snapchat," "iMessage"… but none of these brands or companies behind them are European. Do you know of any globally used social networks developed in Europe? Probably, apart from Spotify, I can't think of any, and it's very likely you can't either. The same thing is happening with Artificial Intelligence: the United States with ChatGPT and China with DeepSeek. Until Europe said "here I am," with Mistral AI presenting Le Chat, an AI much faster than ChatGPT due to its new token technology, a product of European innovation that has moved the world for centuries.

We are losing the technological revolution. And although Mistral AI has shown that Europe only loses if it stands still, it has also shown that Europe must invest in its industry, because when we put all our European intellect into innovation, the whole world trembles. That's a very European thing.

There are no European social networks or European tech giants like Meta, Apple, or Google, and that's called technological colonization. The entire world, including Europe, depends on American digital services that not only violate our data security regulations and the Digital Services Act, but also interfere in our democratic affairs! They adapt their algorithms to manipulate public opinion, accept large amounts of advertising money without auditing its origin, and freely comment on our democratic systems as if they had authority over them.

Europe must get its act together. Invest in overcoming this technological decline, build European tech giants, and offer secure digital services. European data must remain in Europe once and for all. Without this, from Washington or Beijing, our precious data will be used against Europe and our interests. We will be guinea pigs for the intelligence services of foreign countries that do not safeguard our security or confidentiality.

Europe and the European Commission must understand one thing: there is no future without autonomy. And without industry, we will never enjoy that autonomy without being the backyard of the great superpowers, because Europe is a superpower, but we are so old-fashioned that we are asleep. So much history behind us and so much well-being has made us comfortable in a world where the comfort of not innovating is no longer fashionable.

Therefore, Europe: get your act together. They are eating our toast (yes, Spanish sayings are fantastic), and we will not allow the most developed and richest continent to fall apart through inaction when we can truly do something wonderful. And that starts with us: we can change the world again. We are making Europe better and better by studying, working hard, thinking, and innovating in the little things in life. Now we need to scale this and shine again in the world. To once again be the beacon of the world. Long live Europe forever!