Global interdependence creates vulnerabilities, as the post-pandemic period clearly demonstrates. States seek to mitigate these vulnerabilities, while at the same time, citizens want to regain control over decisions that affect their lives. This particular dynamic reflects a world in which hierarchies are evolving, bringing the concept of sovereignty back to the forefront of the debate, particularly in Europe.
However, this term may appear either too vague or not directly applicable to the questions posed. Indeed, sovereignty relies on the institution of the State as its central element. The State has the capacity to decide, to make laws, and to ensure their enforcement within a given territory. This is its primary meaning. It reflects the internal supremacy of power, its permanence, and also its independence from external forces.
This is the definition that spontaneously comes to mind when we speak of sovereignty. However, this framework is not exactly the one that applies when we invoke sovereignty today. Currently, it reflects more the capacity to no longer depend on the rest of the world in the same way as a formal legal framework. It is a form of functional sovereignty.
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Value chains are globalized, technologies are global, financial dynamics are integrated, and energy is the essential resource at the heart of the globalized production system. This interdependence raises questions about sovereignty, including the capacity to have room for maneuver and decision-making power on specific issues, whether military, technological, or energy-related.
Therefore, to be sovereign in a particular type of activity, one must have sufficient leverage to be taken into account by other major players in the world. The logic that then applies is inevitably that of the balance of power.
This raises two types of questions. The first is that of implementing the means to gain this form of autonomy, this right to play in the same league as the other major players.
This aspect is crucial in Europe. It is the very essence of the Draghi report, which observed that the European Union was lagging significantly behind the United States in technology and innovation capacity. Europe’s weakness also reflects the attractiveness of the United States in these areas. The absolute necessity of massive investment to catch up, both to innovate and to restore its attractiveness, is therefore clear. Sovereignty then appears as the ability to make decisions and to influence the choices of economic actors.
Europe still lacks the leverage to make its own decisions and to force other major powers to take its choices and progress into account. This also reflects more distinct political choices depending on who is speaking. For example, upon returning from China, President Macron indicated that he had asked China to make efforts to reduce the imbalances between Europe and the Middle Kingdom. If Beijing did not intervene, this would result in tariffs. More recently, Friedrich Merz, also returning from China, stated that Europeans needed to work harder to avoid falling behind a country where people work much harder.
This difference in the formulation of the means to be implemented also reflects the inability to make choices on a European scale, raising the question of its political structure.
Should we therefore implement a federal framework like the one advocated by Mario Draghi?
Is functional sovereignty ultimately only accessible at the European level if disparities are eliminated in order to create a genuine common dynamic? We must ask ourselves this question because we are currently witnessing Washington’s attempts to insert spikes between members of the European Union in order to exploit and widen existing weaknesses.
But in this case, sovereignty regains a meaning closer to the original definition given in the introduction. Sovereignty must then be a shared choice in which all stakeholders contribute the necessary resources to create leverage and influence decisions. For Europe, the challenge is to stand up to the United States and China, even from a distance, rather than accept a dependence that would be fatal.
The other type of question concerns perspectives, lifestyle choices, and legislation.
In a globalized world, functional sovereignty encompasses not only the choices that a nation-state can make, but also the capacity to adapt to an international framework with shifting hierarchies. One might advocate for an energy transition strategy that includes reducing the use of fossil fuels, while simultaneously being subject to constraints on this issue dictated by the White House, which favors intensive oil and gas production. Sovereignty then appears as the ability to make choices aligned with deep-rooted aspirations while maintaining a degree of economic efficiency to remain competitive. This is why a more political dimension must be applied to European decisions in order to define what Europe collectively desires, while also having the capacity to implement them.
Sovereignty also means accepting the need to reconsider choices and standards that are unsustainable because they are excessive in the short term. We cannot assume that we will quickly do without oil while maintaining a constant level of well-being. We can do everything possible to reduce its importance and develop renewable energy, but we must continue to finance the oil industry to avoid being penalized. Sovereignty, therefore, means giving ourselves the means to ensure that Europe’s voice is heard.
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The question of sovereignty reflects the need to have leverage in key areas in order to make structuring choices that compel competitors to take them into account. It also involves the ability to be agile enough to challenge choices and standards that had been set in stone in the past.
It is about adapting one’s options according to the international environment, which evolves according to the political choices of the most influential countries.
Ultimately, for Europe, it is also the capacity to act collectively, which may require an adaptation of institutional rules.
Sovereignty, therefore, is the capacity to create a shared dynamic for all European countries, to have common objectives, and to be prepared to pool resources to achieve them. For us in finance, this means, for example, pooling a collective financing mechanism. Large-scale European public debt would be an instrument reflecting commitment to this shared dynamic, to a common endeavor without which the countries of Europe cease to exist individually.
