“I strongly encourage European players to buy European”Launched Emmanuel Macron, Monday, February 10, at the top for action on artificial intelligence (IA) in Paris. “We need more economic and European patriotism. You have to go there, buy French and European artificial intelligence every time it exists ”He had exhorted a few days earlier in an interview with the regional press. More broadly, in digital, “European preference is not a big word”Also hammered the Minister Delegate to Digital, Clara Chappaz. “Many countries are already doing so, in compliance with international rules. We just have to think differently to better support our ecosystem ”,, she explained in franceinfo.
What are these exhortations worth, when every day grows the tension between the EU and the United States of Donald Trump, between threats of customs sanctions, stopping aid to Ukraine and attacks in good standing against the European regulation of American digital giants? Have they become anachronistic in a few weeks-an eternity, to the rhythm of the geopolitical switching in progress? On the contrary, one could argue that the time is in European preference. Boycott calls for American products on Facebook groups in Northern Europe or France are certainly anecdotal, but, more deeply, calls to strengthen the strategic autonomy of the continent are added to economic arguments in favor of such a path.
The idea of promoting local digital companies is in no way new, it even appears as a sea serpent. Many players in the sector are demanding for a long time – as in a platform published in L’Obs In 2022 – A “Buy European Tech Act”, which would reserve EU companies with a share of the public procurement of administrations, public enterprises and communities. “In fact, the Americans favored the purchase of American products. The same goes for Asians. And if Europeans do not buy European, no one will do it for us ”,, argued the president of the Digital France start-up association, Maya Noël, in 2024, in An interview in franceinfo.
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