Gaia-X Position on the Franco-German Joint Paper on Digital Sovereignty

By framing sovereignty as Europe’s capacity to develop, provide, use, adapt, and control digital technologies independently and securely, the paper offers a practical basis for the next phase of European action. Several elements of the joint paper align closely with the principles and operational mechanisms already developed within Gaia-X, demonstrating that Europe possesses practical instruments capable of translating sovereignty objectives into deployable solutions. The six-dimensional framework introduced by the Franco-German paper reflects many of the areas in which Gaia-X has been working since its inception, particularly in trusted governance, interoperability, data protection, ecosystem development, and resilience through federated architectures. By proposing a common set of dimensions and criteria, the paper contributes to a shared understanding of sovereignty that can support consistency across future European initiatives. Its ambition to inform forthcoming legislative and policy instruments offers an opportunity to translate broad political objectives into practical requirements and implementation mechanisms, helping to ensure that Europe’s approach to digital sovereignty remains coherent, effective, and aligned with its values of openness, resilience, and competitiveness.