The Briefing Room
The Briefing Room
BBC Radio 4
Can Europe build digital sovereignty?
28 minutes Posted Apr 30, 2026 at 11:45 am.
0:00
28:22
Download MP3
Show notes

Ask Claude a question, Google a query, order from Amazon, chat with mates on WhatsApp, tune in to Youtube. And where ever you do it from, you’ll never be somehow not in America. Because Britain, like Europe is dependent on US tech and as the AI revolution unfolds, governments are increasingly worried about it.

The new buzz phrase is digital sovereignty. But what does that mean? Is it even feasible? And can the UK and the Europe take back control?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Stanley Pignal, Europe editor at The Economist

Cecilia Rikap, Associate Professor in Economics and Head of Research at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Seb Johnson, founder of Scaling Europe, a media company focused on European Tech

Presenter: David Aaronovitch

Producers: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon