{"id":8830,"date":"2020-09-11T23:44:57","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T23:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/europe-feels-the-squeeze-as-tech-competition-heats-up-between-u-s-and-china\/"},"modified":"2020-09-11T23:44:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T23:44:57","slug":"europe-feels-the-squeeze-as-tech-competition-heats-up-between-u-s-and-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviancetechnologies.com\/blog\/europe-feels-the-squeeze-as-tech-competition-heats-up-between-u-s-and-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe Feels the Squeeze as Tech Competition Heats Up Between U.S. and China"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Europe Feels the Squeeze as Tech Competition Heats Up Between U.S. and China<\/h2>\n

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BRUSSELS \u2014 Lacking a powerful technology sector of its own, the European Union has instead tried to carve out a space in the digital economy as the world\u2019s regulatory superpower, leading the charge on privacy rights and data protection by leveraging its enormous single market against Goliaths like Google and Facebook.<\/p>\n

But a number of recent examples have made it clear that for Europe, increasingly, that is not enough. The rapid pace of technological change \u2014 including artificial intelligence and facial recognition \u2014 is mingling ever more with national security concerns that European leaders have been slow to grasp and respond to, analysts say.<\/p>\n

As global technology shapes up into a battleground between China and the United States, Europe is finding it harder to set the rules of the road while others in Beijing and Washington are in the diver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope needs to get its act together,\u201d said Marietje Schaake, international policy director at the Cyber Policy Center of Stanford University and a former member of the European Parliament. \u201cI worry the tempo is too slow for the pace at which changes are forthcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The most recent example is TikTok, the wildly popular Chinese short video app, which the Trump administration has challenged by using many of the same national security arguments it employed against Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, and its bid to become the globe\u2019s dominant 5G provider.<\/p>\n

Time and again, such disputes have left European leaders, regulators and industries squeezed between Beijing and Washington, risking retaliation against carmakers, financial services firms or agriculture companies if they choose one side over the other.<\/p>\n

In response, European leaders have belatedly embarked on a generational project toward \u201cdigital sovereignty,\u201d mixing tougher rules against foreign tech companies with efforts to boost local innovation.<\/p>\n

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission vice president in charge of digital issues, has called it a \u201cnew phase\u201d for technology policy in the region.<\/p>\n

But those policies will take years to shift the balance meaningfully in Europe\u2019s favor, analysts say, and many question whether they are really enough to close the technology gap with the United States and China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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One reason Brussels risks falling behind is that security remains the responsibility of individual member nations, not one ceded to the European Union, Ms. Schaake said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTikTok confronts Europe with the weaknesses of its digital and national security policies,\u201d she said. \u201cEurope is na\u00efve about certain of the technologies coming from China and the United States, and just says that anyone doing business in Europe has to respect our rights and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

After months of debate, some European leaders are coming around to views closer to those held in Washington, where President Trump has moved to try to force the sale of TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations to an American company, charging that the company\u2019s Chinese ties present a national security threat.<\/p>\n

It has used the same argument against Huawei, the telecommunications giant, though both companies deny any explicit link to the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

In Europe, the American point of view on Huawei, backed by the threat of secondary sanctions, has gained ground, most recently in Britain, where a ban was adopted in July.<\/p>\n

But most Europeans mostly still see TikTok not as a security threat, but as a risk to privacy. Even if the White House-orchestrated TikTok sale goes through, the European operations will remain under the ownership of the Chinese parent company, ByteDance.<\/p>\n

TikTok uses both facial recognition and artificial intelligence, important technologies that are not regulated by the United States or the European Union. \u201cWith the combination of competition, artificial intelligence and security, it makes sense why some policymakers are concerned,\u201d said Andreas Aktoudianakis, a digital policy analyst with the European Policy Center, a research institution in Brussels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cEurope wants to regulate artificial intelligence and other technologies, but it\u2019s slow and there\u2019s no real timeline,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re late to catch the train.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n