Between Digital Regulation and Technological Development: The Role of Procurement in the Political Economy of European Security Governance

In its ambition to drive digital transformation and create a single market for data, the European Commission is increasingly investing in private sector’s capabilities for the implementation of large-scale infrastructural projects. From recent calls for database interoperability in the justice and home affairs (JHA) area to the federation of data spaces – as foreseen by a raft of legislative measures (e.g. the Data Governance Act, the Digital Services Act and the alike), procurement-related expenditures are fast growing. These expenditures epitomise how the ambition to steer the EU’s competitiveness in the digital market through data integration and increasing platformisation is gaining political momentum in the EU. At the same time, they raise important questions about the political economy of European security governance. To date, our understanding of the intricate public-private dynamics of resourcing, operation and maintenance associated with technological development in the JHA remains rather limited. There is therefore an urgent need for empirical accounts that make these far-reaching relations visible and intelligible. With this objective in mind, this paper aims to advance a material-technical perspective on the constitutive role of procurement (understood as the material and epistemic involvement of Big Tech companies) in shaping both the regulatory and technological backbone of European security governance. By combining perspectives from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and bringing this literature in conversation with Critical Security Studies (CSS) and European Studies, it shows that a focus on often-overlooked, procurement-related processes is key to understand how policy implementation and technological development mutually shape each other. Through a critical account of the multiple forms of goods (e.g. under sea cables, servers, racks, etc.) and IT services that are procured in the context of AFSJ interoperability initiatives, including logistics, supply services and contractual agreements, this paper seeks to make two broader contributions. First, it underscores the critical role of the private (IT-security) complex in the provision of epistemic and material capabilities necessary to sustain the operational demands of the heterogenous constellation of AFSJ interoperability initiatives. Second, it adds depth to broader debates about the EU’s claims for digital sovereignty by showing how less visible procurement-related processes shape the political economy of European security governance, and how these in turn intersect with broader digital regulatory initiatives.