Governing digital networks: European policies on Internet governance

Internet governance is emerging as a new important policy field. The growing reliance of contemporary societies and political systems on digital networks, the increasing geopolitical tensions about their control, and the concerns for electronic mass surveillance are leading governments, institutions and public authorities to pay a greater attention to issues such as cybersecurity, technological dependency, protocols' administration, infrastructures' regulation, data policy, digital properties and online rights.  This article aims to identify European key actors involved in the Internet regulation, analyzing their activity, visions, and goals. It will address questions such as: who is representing Europe in the increasingly conflicting arenas where the deep architectures of digital networks are to being governed? What are their power relations with the other coding authorities in the global scenario? What kind of commitment do they have with democratic principles and procedures? What is the role of Member States? And finally, is there a recognizable European strategy to face current technological transformations? In order to answer these questions, this paper will propose an in-depth analysis of policy documents produced by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission in the field of Internet governance.