Digital Sovereignty and the means to European digital security: Identification of the goals related to digital sovereignty from legal texts published by the European Union

Europe is taking the lead in positioning itself at the forefront of digital governance with the accelerating transformation of global digital markets, which is reflected in policies that have frequently addressed Digital Sovereignty in their communications. However, the lack of conceptual agreement on the fundamental objectives of digital sovereignty leads to diverse interpretations by different actors within the European jurisdiction, expanding its scope but narrowing the intensity with which it is enforced. This article aims to solidify the concept of sovereignty in cyberspace in response to the digital insecurity in Europe amid increasing geopolitical tensions by examining the fundamental objectives of the European Union(EU) within its notion of digital sovereignty. It uses Gioia methodology [Gioia et al., 2013. Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: Notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational research methods, 16 (1), 15–31] as a theoretical approach towards qualitatively examining 79 legal documents selected via a rigorous screening process to identify six dimensions of EU's strategic and digital goals while discussing its relevance to digital sovereignty. By analysing these dimensions, we provide actionable insights on digital sovereignty from the EU legislation grounded in empirical evidence and highlight the gaps in its implementation.