Virtual Worlds: Balancing European Regulation and Industrial Policy for the Metaverse

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 23/2023

By Antonio Calcara

04.09.2023

The new European Commission “Virtual Worlds” strategy aims to use a mix of regulation and industrial policy to close the gap with the United States and China in digital technologies. This Policy Brief analyses the new strategy to better understand how the European Union is balancing regulation and industrial policy more generally. It argues that European policymakers will have to accept two painful realities: first, competing in the digital age will necessarily require a further concentration of resources in the most competitive countries and sectors, and thus a reconfiguration of the European Single Market. Second, Europe cannot go it alone. Accepting these two painful realities can be an opportunity to seek new creative solutions and strengthen Europe’s position in digital technologies.

CSDS Policy brief 23223.pdf (436.22 KB)

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