The appointment of a far-right French MEP to lead a European Parliament report on the EU’s tech sovereignty could push the already stretched cordon sanitaire further towards breaking point.

MEPs are due to prepare a report under the broad title of ‘European technological sovereignty and digital infrastructure’ – which they hope will influence an eventual hard legislative proposal from the European Commission.

Leaning on the omnipresent Letta and Draghi reports, the aim is to identify gaps and opportunties to make Europe less dependent on foreign tech. It is expected to cover connectivity, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, and will make recommendations for both regulation and investment initiatives.

It was no surprise that the Parliament’s heavyweight industry committee (ITRE) took the lead on the report. But that the pen has ended up in the hands of Sarah Knafo, a far-right French MEP for the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, startled many onlookers.

Although the centrist groups had the means to secure the rapporteurship – which are typically allocated in backroom negotiations – they chose to allow Knafo to slip into the influential role with relative ease.

What happened?

In the industry committee, rapporteurships are allocated through a bidding system in which political groups trade points for files. Each party receives points in proportion to the number of seats it holds in the European Parliament.

The largest group, the centre-right European People’s Party, won 72 points for the July 2024-December 2026 period, while the smallest, Knafo’s Sovereigntists, won just nine.

Once points are used to claim a file, they are locked in for the next two and a half years.

Knafo initially bid one point for the tech sovereignty report, before German Greens MEP Alexandra Geese – who had first put the idea on the table in September – outbid her with two. Knafo then raised her bid to three, after which Geese conceded.

Knafo used one third of her group’s total points to secure influence over a non-binding report that is akin to little more than an advisory opinion.

If MEPs eventually approve Knafo’s report, the Commission is only obliged to let MEPs know whether it will submit a legislative proposal related to the report’s recommendations. The Commission often does not follow up with a proposal at all – though it did include some points raised by the Parliament in its proposals on the Digital Services Act and the AI Act, two landmark tech regulations.

The Greens, meanwhile, kept their powder dry for more consequential work. “It makes more sense to save the points to get a rapporteur role on a piece of binding legislation” Geese told Euractiv.

EPP straddles the cordon sanitaire

For the other tradtional pro-European groups, the question now becomes whether or not to support Knafo’s report. particularly for the EPP.

Recent votes at EU level and national level, including in Germany, show that EPP members are increasingly open to cooperating with the far-right on specific issues. This is considered a breach of the so-called cordon sanitaire – an implicit agreement not to cooperate with such parties.

Once again, the mathematics will likely make the EPP’s on Knafo’s report the decisive one. But their position is so far unclear.

German EPP MEP Axel Voss, among the group’s most prominent voices on tech policy, told Euractiv he is confident that his group will not collaborate with Knafo.

But the group’s spokesperson for the report, shadow rapporteur Jörgen Warborn, did not respond to enquiries as to whether he has been instructed by his group to work with Knafo.

Should they decline to work with Knafo and the Parliament’s far-right ranks to form a supporting majority, the EPP could instead pen a ‘minority’ report – together with the socialists, liberals and greens – to put to a vote instead.

Knafo is convinced that will not happen.

Since she was elected MEP in July 2024, she has “never had any reason to complain about the cordon sanitaire,” she told Euractiv.

Knafo’s PR push

With political resistance likely, Knafo’s involvement appears to primarilly benefit none other than herself.

A ‘sovereigntist’ working on ‘EU tech sovereignty’ offers a clear PR hook for Knafo, as her December LinkedIn post suggests.

Her ties to a Trump administration that has cosied up to US Big Tech could also allow her to leverage the role into a greater transatlantic profile.

Meanwhile, Knafo’s national party, Reconquête!, is attempting to regain momentum after a split in which it lost four MEPs just days after their election. As the only elected official left in her party, raising her profile could help advance those efforts.

The direction of her report remains uncertain. Knafo advocates for reducing bureaucracy and simplifying regulations, similarly to the Commission.

But Geese fears the report will lack a European outlook and will be very French-oriented.

Knafo does have a very French-centric view, but she has also been influenced by her visit to the US for Trump’s inauguration.

She attended meetings with senior US officials on using nuclear energy to meet the tech sector’s significant power needs, and believes the EU should do the same.

Knafo told Euractiv her close US ties would not be jeapordised by her authoring a report on how to reduce European dependence on US tech. She suggested the Trump administration may even appreciate the content her report.

“To understand a sovereigntist, there is no one better than a sovereigntist.”

Knafo must submit her report for a committee vote on 25 June.

[CP/OM]