Digital and Green: Reconciling the EU Twin Transitions in Times of War and Energy Crisis

Abstract

The Next Generation EU plan has significantly invested into the digital and green transitions to increase the resilience and boost the recovery of the European Union after the Covid-19 pandemic. The recent geopolitical developments following the Russian invasion of Ukraine have provoked an energy crisis in the EU. This chapter aims to analyse the EU strategic plans for the ‘twin’ - digital and green - transitions in such a complex post-pandemic context. Digitalisation can be a powerful driver of the green transformation thanks to its potential to help societal actors manage resources and infrastructures more efficiently. However, fostering a digital Europe cannot occur without climate considerations, due to environmental impact of digital technologies on energy consumption and raw materials. While EU digital sovereignty ambitions seem to be undermined by the current geopolitical situation, the ongoing energy crisis generate both positive and negative effects on EU decarbonisation strategies. Greater integration between the digital and green agendas can help deliver on both transitions.

Keywords: Next Generation EU, twin transitions, digitalisation, decarbonisation, energy crisis, war