Image and Reality of the EU’s external digital policy towards digital leaders and laggards

This research project closes a research gap by analysing the EU’s global actorness in the digital sphere with a view to the fact that some actors are more and some are less digitally advanced than the EU. Scrutinising the EU’s way of dealing with digital affairs vis-à-vis Africa and the United States add to our understanding of the EU as global digital actor: How does the EU present itself and how is it perceived as a global digital actor? As an actor driven by norms or by its own interests? Which norms and interests are relevant within the EU’s external digital policy? The methodology builds on a qualitative approach comprising qualitative coding and content analysis of official EU documents and expert interviews with EU-insiders and outsiders. Based on this analysis, the EU is then allocated to one of four ideal types concerning the orientation towards norms or interests on two dimensions, projected (analysis of EU-documents) and perceived (analysis of expert interviews) orientation of the EU’s external digital policies: coherent normative actor (representation as normative, perception as normative), unexpected normative actor (representation as realist, perception as normative), unexpected realist actor (representation as normative, perception as realist), coherent realist actor (representation as realist, perception as realist). Is the EU a different type of global digital actor with regards to the US and Africa? Which differences in the EU’s external digital policy can be seen when it comes to digital laggards such as Africa and digital leaders such as the US? Research results concerning the EU’s external digital policy towards Africa suggest that different member states of the EU are viewed differently by African citizens showing potential future research agendas with regards to the role of member states concerning the EU’s external digital policy.