Germany and France endorse EuroStack for tech sovereignty
The two leading EU-economies announced the support to the initiative to create a sovereign European tech infrastructure.
Published on April 10, 2025
Germany and France officially endorsed the EuroStack initiative, which aims to reduce Europe's dependency on US technologies by fostering a sovereign European tech infrastructure. Although they haven't offered any specifics, their green light to the initiative can pave the way to future negotiations, reports Euractiv.
The EuroStack initiative seeks to harmonize Europe's tech capabilities, but its broad scope raises questions about funding and implementation, with estimates suggesting it could require public investments in the hundreds of billions of euros. The project advocates for creating a unified European industrial policy, something currently lacking at the EU level.
The German government coalition officially committed to the project in its final agreement, while France AI and Digital Minister Clara Chappaz confirmed Euractiv The German government coalition officially committed to the project in its final agreement, while France's AI and Digital Minister Clara Chappaz confirmed Euractiv Paris' support.
A strategic push for sovereign tech
The EuroStack initiative, led by antitrust expert Cristina Caffara, is detailed in a plan published in January. Inspired by the findings of Draghi's competitiveness report, the document advocates for establishing a comprehensive Europe-first digital ecosystem and promoting local technological innovations to challenge the dominance of non-European tech giants. To drive this transformation, the signatories suggest several strategic initiatives, including implementing 'Buy European' policies for public procurement and providing incentives for the private sector to support local enterprises.
Last month, a coalition from Europe’s tech industry sent a letter to the European Commission, calling for a sovereign infrastructure fund to ramp up investments in tech. Signatories also fully endorsed the EuroStack initiative.
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The complexities of implementation
Attempting to unify such a vast array of technological and industrial elements under a single initiative presents significant challenges. The EuroStack framework indicates the necessity for a European Digital Industrial Policy, aiming to aggregate existing assets across nations while promoting public and private investments in strategic sectors like AI and cloud computing. However, the contentious issue of formulating a standardized European industrial policy persists as a major hurdle. The previous absence of a unified such policy at the EU level complicates the alignment of national priorities
Despite their strong backing, France and Germany approach the EuroStack initiative with differing perspectives, rooted in their historical discrepancies in tech strategies. Their debates extend from the vital aspects of high-speed network infrastructure to energy policies, such as the contentious status of nuclear energy as renewable. On the cloud security front, differing national standards further exemplify the complexities the initiative seeks to navigate.
With Europe lacking an actual industrial policy, truly implementing the strategy outlined in the EuroStack would mean doing something that has never existed at the EU level. Moreover, the concept remains vague. For now, the European Commission has not taken any stance.
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