“Europe is on the way to losing the submarine cable war”

Chronic If there is one thing the European Union (EU) cannot do, it is to talk about its successes. This month, Portugal inaugurates EllaLink, an undersea telecommunications cable connecting the port of Sines to that of Fortaleza, Brazil. It doesn’t sound like much, but this “highway” allowing high-speed data transmission is the first to link Europe directly to South America. Until now, the data exchanged between the two continents passed through the United States.

EllaLink is based on Bella, a consortium of research organizations from Europe and Latin America. Built largely with European funds, it contributes to European digital sovereignty. Optimists applaud. The pessimists stress that the Portuguese cable weighs very little in the discreet war that has been waged for several years under our oceans, both strategically and economically and technologically.

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Because today, 97% of the world’s Internet traffic and 10 billion dollars in daily financial transactions pass through submarine cables. “They are as important as gas and pipelines”, summarizes the European Council for International Relations (ECFR), a European think tank.

Europe in a scattered row

In one new report on the subject, three of its researchers, Arturo Varvelli, Matteo Colombo and Federico Solfrini, draw up a worrying observation: “The EU is not doing enough to protect European interests in digital infrastructure. “ But the stake is immense: “If it does not have its own capacities and autonomy in this area, Europe will find itself trapped in the growing rivalry between the United States and China for technological supremacy”, summarize the authors. In addition, there are issues of cybersecurity and political influence, in particular in the Mediterranean basin.

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Of course, for two years, digital sovereignty has been on the Brussels agenda, and the Member States intend to take advantage of the joint recovery plan of 750 billion euros to accelerate the digital transition. But as so often, the member countries advance in dispersed order. The Commission does not have the power to grant licenses for the construction of digital infrastructures, which is essential for forging a common strategy.

Result: while France, Italy and Spain share interests in the Mediterranean, their respective companies (Orange, Telecom Italia Sparkle and Telxius) often go it alone when it comes to connecting Europe to Africa and the Middle East. This lack of coordination undermines the EU’s ability to achieve its digital sovereignty, in particular against Facebook, Google, or even the Chinese Huawei and Hengtong, which are increasingly present in the region.

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