In the world of technological “sovereignists”, a new case is emerging, concerning the ambiguous role of Europe in the defense of our fundamental interests. In many fields, related to digital technology, we have already had the opportunity to observe a certain tropism for American digital giants, often to the detriment of our European or national players.
In the case that concerns us, we are going to look at a new case of cognitive dissonance in the application of the defense of our interests.
Contract for sensitive European communications ?
According to information circulating (Politico) the European Commission has given its provisional green light for the management of its trans-European telematic services between administrations (TESTA) to the British provider British Telecom (BT). The aim is to enable European and national administrations to exchange data in several areas in a reliable and secure manner.
One can only wonder about the reasons for this choice. First of all, why give this contract to the historical operator of a country that has decided to slam the door on the European Union? The message sent by such a decision is that you can leave Europe (Brexit) and continue to reap billions of euros in European contracts with your companies…
Beyond this question of political coherence, this decision raises concerns about the respect of privacy and security of European data.
Let’s not forget that our British “friends” are members of the “Five Eyes” alliance. An alliance that only gathers Anglo-Saxon countries, and that aims at a global network of surveillance and electronic and digital information (Le Monde Diplomatique)
It is therefore quite surprising that no one reacts to the fact that a key and sensitive communication service is entrusted to a company in the fold of this alliance. Recall, as Politico did at the end of its article, that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in a 2018 ruling, notified that the British authorities had violated the right to privacy in its mass surveillance program and illegally shared data with their partners. This is an allusion to the famous Five Eyes alliance…
Only a few dissonant voices were raised within the European authorities to denounce the hypocrisy of the decision at a time when the European Commission is touting its objective of strategic autonomy…
The European Commission has been asked by Politico to answer the questions raised by its article, without success. On twitter, the information and a request for reaction were relayed unsuccessfully by Souveraine Tech… The European Commission is once again turning a deaf ear to legitimate questions about a policy of awarding contracts that is surprising to say the least…
Conclusion
Once again Europe is faced with its own contradictions between its declared vision of sovereignty, its ambition in geopolitical matters and its decisions which seem to be dictated by the Atlanticist tropism of many of its members.
This decision should be questioned, it is time for Europe to think about protecting its interests! It is therefore crucial to mobilize in order to clarify what kind of Europe we want to build and above all to put into practice the declared will to be sovereign over our industry, especially our digital industry. It is also crucial to continue to protect our fellow European citizens from abuses concerning the use of our data, especially from our Anglo-Saxon friends who don’t care about our rules…
