[German]This is an exciting development that can be observed right now. Large European companies such as Airbus Industries, Dassault Systems and 90 other smaller European technology companies and lobby groups are calling for a digitally independent infrastructure to be established in Europe and for Europe to free itself from its dependence on the US tech industry. This is probably a reaction to the volatility of US policy.
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EuroStack as a European vision
Europe's industry has probably been seething for some time about its dependence on the US tech industry. This is why EuroStack was formed as an initiative. EuroStack is a vision for a European industrial policy initiative that brings together technology, governance and funding for European-focused investments. The aim is to build and adopt a range of digital infrastructures. This ranges from connectivity and cloud computing to AI and digital platforms.
The vision is to support European entrepreneurship and competitiveness (a diverse ecosystem of companies, SMEs, start-ups), create resilience, protect Europe's autonomy and sovereignty in a volatile world and empower people and businesses in Europe, it says.
"AI is not Europe's only way to close the 'competitiveness gap' with the rest of the world. The people and companies in Europe need a sovereign technological infrastructure, they demand, which is achieved through industrial leadership. Europe could achieve this by pooling existing resources, coordinating them with public and private investment, and establishing stakeholder governance to protect the intermediary infrastructure from capture.
Since January 2025, EuroStack has published the 19-page PDF document EUROSTACK: EUROPEAN STRATEGIC SOVEREIGN DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES, which takes up the call for European digital sovereignty.
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Call for 'digital sovereignty' in Europe
Now representatives of European industry have written an open letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Reuters has picked up on this theme, writing that alongside Airbus and Dassault, 90 smaller European technology companies and lobby groups have called on the President of the European Commission to set up a state infrastructure fund to increase public investment in cutting-edge technologies.
"Europe must regain the initiative and become more technologically independent at all levels of its critical digital infrastructure, from the logical infrastructure – applications, platforms, media, AI frameworks and models – to the physical infrastructure – chips, computers, storage and connectivity," Reuters quotes from the open letter dated March 14, 2025, which is probably available to the editors.
"Europe's current multiple dependencies create security and reliability risks, jeopardize our sovereignty and harm our growth," it continues. The signatories (companies and corporations) argue that recent developments in the US and the EU, as well as US actions, make it clear that Europe needs to take urgent action to maintain its strategic autonomy in key sectors.
The letter argues that a government infrastructure fund is key to financing such an ambitious goal, particularly in the capital-intensive parts of the value chain such as quantum technologies and chips. The letter also suggests, according to Reuters, that governments adopt a "Buy European" policy in tenders to stimulate demand and encourage companies to invest.
"The aim is not to exclude non-European players, but to create space in which European providers can legitimately compete (and justify investments)," argues the open letter. According to Reuters, the signatories of the letter include the French cloud service provider OVH Cloud and its competitors in other EU countries, the European Software Institute, the European Startup Network, the German AI Association, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) and the French public investment bank BPI France.
US President Trump's volte-face has triggered a number of things that would have been almost unthinkable six months ago. We can only hope that the machinery of demands and announcements will not be enough, but that action will be taken and implemented.
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