Murtra Lays Out His Vision of the Path to European Digital Sovereignty

Telefonica chairman and CEO Marc Murtra said that European sovereignty will only be possible with simplified regulation and a commitment to building technology within Europe. He also stressed that strategic autonomy does not mean isolation.

Murtra argued Europe needs to accelerate the development of its own technologies to keep pace in a world shaped by AI, quantum computing and new autonomous systems. He said that building out technologies had become a determining factor for countries’ economic competitiveness, productivity, resilience and “decision-making capacity”.

In this context, however, he does not believe taking such an approach will mean isolation on the global stage; rather, it gives Europe the ability to develop and control critical capabilities in areas such as energy, digital infrastructure, semiconductors and AI. “Strategic autonomy is the relevant concept. No economy is completely independent, but Europe must strengthen its capabilities to reduce excessive dependencies in key technologies,” he said.

Strategic autonomy requires combining investment, industrial capacity, innovation, talent and forming a shared long-term vision, continued Murtra. This vision, he added, should be centred on defending and preserving very important values linked to democracy, human dignity and the ability to say what we think.

Talking about regulation, the Telefonica executive believes simplifying rules and focus does not mean eliminating anything, but rather prioritizing what drives innovation, competitiveness and strategic autonomy. “Europe has the GDP, the talent, the engineers, the companies and the institutions” to lead the next technological revolution,” concluded Murtra.