The growing desire for technological independence from the USA is driving cooperation between Germany and France. At the German-French Council of Ministers on Friday, both governments decided to strengthen European data sovereignty and counter the dominance of US tech companies in the security and military sectors. One pillar of this strategy is the development of a European “digital backbone”. It is intended to create a viable alternative to military software and surveillance tools from the USA.
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The big data giant Palantir is particularly in focus. The European preference for its systems is crumbling. France’s domestic secret service has announced that it will end the contract with the US company. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution previously decided against Palantir and in favor of the French alternative ChapsVision.
Paris is now also promoting its AI-powered military command platform Arcadia. The French executive is positioning it as a counter-proposal to the controversial Palantir system Maven, which is currently in use at NATO. Alliance circles recently said that there was no real European alternative. But the joint statement after the talks between Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Emmanuel Macron shows a change of course.
Joining forces on AI security
At the same time, Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) and his French counterpart Anne Le Hénanff want to strengthen security in the AI sector. The core of this initiative is a partnership between the new German AI security institute and its French counterpart Inesia.
The institutes are intended to ensure the control of so-called frontier AI and support the EU AI Office in enforcing the AI Act. The ministers also want to coordinate European frequency policy in order to secure sovereign satellite communication.
Aside from the digital infrastructure, the two states agreed on steps in classic defense and industrial policy. The partners are relying on pragmatism for the billion-dollar, largely stopped FCAS fighter jet system: they agreed on a common standard. It is intended to ensure that fighter jets, drones and other aircraft from different countries of origin can communicate seamlessly with each other when in use.
Both sides agreed to start a research program for the MGCS land system, which is intended to replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks with a network of manned and unmanned vehicles. It will be dedicated to autonomous driving, sensor technology and networking on the battlefield.
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In space, cooperation on reconnaissance satellites and the use of European launch vehicles such as the Ariane 6 is to be intensified. There are also economic policy agreements: Stefan Rouenhoff from the Federal Ministry of Economics and the French Minister of Industry Sébastien Martin signed declarations on the resilience of value chains, securing critical raw materials and deepening the EU internal market.
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(NO)
