Europeans understand that digital technologies will continue to play a growing role in their lives, but many do not seem not to realize that they are entitled to the same rights online as offline.

From privacy protection and antitrust action to online speech regulation and innovation policy, what happens in Europe’s digital economy will have profound and far-reaching implications for the rest of the world in the years ahead.

The European Commission’s unveiling last month of its vision of a European “digital decade,” with policy targets for 2030 focusing on the four cardinal issues of skills, infrastructure and capacities, public services, and the digitalization of business, shows the European Union aims to be at the forefront of the digital revolution. Digitalization is key to building economic and societal resilience and global influence in a world where geopolitical competition for techno-primacy means the EU vision of digitalization based on open societies, the rule of law, and fundamental freedoms, trumps authoritarian systems that use digital technologies for surveillance and repression.