Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/334469 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IDOS Discussion Paper No. 33/2025
Publisher: 
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn
Abstract: 
Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and technological developments such as artificial intelligence, digital transformations affect almost all areas of social, economic, and environmental life. Emerging as a tool for addressing challenges - but also as a source of new problems or as an amplifier of existing challenges - digital transformation has increasingly become the focus of initiatives at the European Union (EU) level. Since 2015, the EU has developed a comprehensive digital agenda spanning various policy domains, ranging from bolstering the single market to addressing foreign and security policy concerns. This paper examines the evolving landscape of digitalisation-related EU policies through the lens of strategy documents and policy guidelines, with particular emphasis on developments between 2020 and 2025. It explores the EU's overarching approach towards digitalisation - its conceptualisation, objectives, and self-defined role in shaping the digital revolution. The analysis reveals that the EU addresses digitalisation through a multitude of policy-specific strategies and guidelines, characterised by four predominant strategic narratives: A geopolitical ("digital sovereignty"), an environmental ("twin transitions"), a socio-political ("fundamental rights"), and an economic ("growth and competitiveness") narrative.
Subjects: 
Digitalisation
digital strategy
digital transformation
EU
EuropeanUnion
narrative
strategy
sovereignty
GreenDeal
AI
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-3-96021-278-2
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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