European tech leaders push for local digital sovereignty
A group of European tech companies sent an open letter to the Commission calling for action on the bloc's digital sovereignty.
Published on March 17, 2025
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A coalition from Europe's tech industry, with 95 signatories, has sent an open letter to the European Commission calling for immediate measures to ramp up the efforts for digital sovereignty. Their letter underscores economic and security concerns heightened by geopolitical tensions, calling to reduce reliance on foreign digital services and infrastructure. The initiative advocates developing a sovereign infrastructure fund to boost public investments in critical technologies like AI, chips, and cloud computing.
"Europe needs to recover the initiative and become more technologically independent across all layers of its critical digital infrastructure, from logical infrastructure - applications, platforms, media, AI frameworks, and models - to physical infrastructure - chips, computing, storage, and connectivity," they write in a letter seen by Reuters.
The letter urges a shift towards Euro-centric technology policies, including 'Buy European' mandates for public procurement and incentives for private firms to opt for local solutions. The signatories, including Airbus, Element, and Proton, highlight the urgency for Europe to establish digital independence before it's overwhelmed by external tech giants. Europe aims to secure its place in the global digital landscape by fostering local technology ecosystems.
The Euro Stack
The EuroStack paper, published in January, outlines the plan for establishing a structured European digital infrastructure in more detail. Drawing on the insights of Draghi’s competitiveness report, the document calls for creating a comprehensive Europe-first digital ecosystem and promoting local tech innovations to counterbalance the dominance of non-European tech giants. To foster this transformation, the signatories propose a series of strategic initiatives, such as enforcing 'Buy European' policies for public procurement and offering incentives for private sectors to align with local ventures.
Central to this initiative is an emphasis on constructing robust and competitive digital infrastructure free from external influences. By advocating for establishing a 'Sovereign Infrastructure Fund,' the letter suggests bolstering public investment in critically essential sectors like chips and quantum computing.
The EuroStack paper identifies five pillars of policy design. First, it calls for defining a European Digital Industrial Policy that would need to be complemented by “aggregating first the best of breed of existing assets.” Public investments and incentives for private investment should then support such a federated aggregation of assets. As a fourth step, every funded project must be selected, and results must be measured in terms of business outcomes. The fifth pillar opens up cooperation with third-party states sharing common goals.
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Challenges and the need for immediate action
Faced with the continuous pressures from U.S. tech supremacy and recent geopolitical events, European leaders are urged to act. As former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi emphasized, the lack of coordination and reliance on regulatory measures have yet to produce a viable solution to combat external dominance]. The new Euro-centric strategy requires significant participation from European governance bodies and industries to ensure swift implementation and scaling of local digital capacities.
Acknowledging past shortcomings, such as the 'defanged' GAIA-X project, the Euro stack initiative consolidates efforts to empower Europe's digital capabilities through harmonized policies and shared technological standards. By encouraging pooling and federating among EU technologists, the strategy envisions a sustainable ecosystem that champions transparency and openness, which is vital for maintaining European sovereignty in the digital sphere.
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