The question of digital sovereignty has become a key issue for the European Union. In times of geopolitical turbulence, the predominance of non-European digital players on the European market risks undermining the ability of European citizens, businesses and governments to determine their own destiny. Remedying this situation is not a purely legal task, but EU law can nevertheless provide tools to ensure that the European digital sector develops in a more autonomous way and in line with European values and interests.
The workshop seeks to explore the potential and limits of EU law in supporting the Union’s quest for digital sovereignty. We invite contributions that examine how EU law enables, constrains, or reshapes the Union’s ability to act in the digital domain, and how law mediates the tension between openness to global markets and the call for strategic autonomy.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Digital regulation and platform law (e.g. DMA, DSA, AI Act) as instruments of digital sovereignty;
- State aid law and EU funding tools to foster innovation, technological capacity, and strategic autonomy;
- Internal market law as both an enabler and constraint in building sovereign digital infrastructures;
- Trade defence tools and international economic law in the context of digital sovereignty;
- Cybersecurity, data governance, and cross-border data flows.
Important dates:
- Abstract submission deadline: 30 November 2025.
- Notifications of acceptance: Early January 2026
Abstracts should be submitted via email to Feyisayo.lari-williams@uantwerpen.be
Organizing team