Europe will not be sovereign behind walls

This article is authored by Caroline Stage, Minister for Digital Affairs of Denmark, and Peter Kofler, Chair of Danish Entrepreneurs

Across the European continent, leaders are grappling with how to secure our digital, economic and geopolitical future in an increasingly unstable world – one where Europe’s competitiveness crisis is now among the deepest, we have faced since the end of the second world war. And in moments like these, it can feel as if Team Europe is in the locker room at halftime. 

No longer ahead, but still not defeated. Not collapsing, but clearly at a turning point, where we need to change the strategy for the second half. 

Recently, the discussion about digital sovereignty has grown increasingly, and it’s never been timelier to discuss how Europe protects its interests and preserves its ability to act. There’s no doubt that we must safeguard critical infrastructure, protect sensitive data, and strengthen our resilience. Those goals are shared across the Union.

But halftime is when you look around, take stock of what brought you here, and decide what must change before the second half begins. Europe is at exactly such a moment.

The question is no longer whether we must transform, but how. And here the path is still open for debate. One thing, however, is already clear. Sovereignty will not be achieved by turning inward. Europe cannot defend its future by isolating itself from the world. You cannot win by defending. 

True sovereignty must be built on competitiveness, innovation and the ability to stand strong in an open global economy – by innovating faster, scaling bigger and shaping the technologies that will define the next century.

Today, Europe faces overlapping pressures. A weakening competitive position, geopolitical uncertainty and a fierce global race for technological leadership. And if history teaches us anything, it is that Europe finds its way through crises not by retreating, but by returning to the foundations that made us strong in the first place: openness, competition and a relentless focus on prosperity.

After the second world war, Europe rebuilt through free trade, integrated markets and an economic model that rewarded innovation. It worked. For decades, we steadily closed the gap to the United States – until that convergence stalled.

Now we are slipping backwards again. A major reason for this decline is that investing in Europe today often feels like pouring water into leaking pipes. Too much is lost in complex, fragmented regulation. Too many companies and founders spend their mornings wrestling with compliance and their afternoons considering whether they need a one-way flight to Silicon Valley.

If this continues, sovereignty will not be Europe’s challenge. Irrelevance will. In the 21st century, leadership comes from technological capability, economic strength and the ability to scale ideas into global standards. That can only happen in a dynamic economy driven by innovators – not shielded from them. If you place an animal from the zoo in the real world, it will not survive. The same goes with our companies. They need to be born on the global competitive market.

And this is why the “easy” answers fail. Declaring that everything must be “Made in Europe” may sound comforting. Slowing down global competitors might sound safe. Tightening control over technologies we fear we cannot match might feel politically tempting. But none of these answers make Europe stronger. They make Europe slower and poorer.

Innovation does not grow behind walls. It grows when Europe attracts the world’s best founders, uses the world’s best technologies and competes fearlessly with the world’s strongest companies. Europe is not defeated. But the whistle is about to blow. The second half is beginning – and Europe still has everything to play for.