The European Commission has unveiled a comprehensive “Technological Sovereignty Package” aimed at reducing the EU27’s dependence on foreign suppliers of key technologies. This EU initiative responds to the current situation where Europe relies heavily on entities outside the EU for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud solutions. The package includes two key legislative proposals – Chips Act 2.0 and the Cloud and AI Development Act – supplemented by an open source strategy and a plan for the digitalization of energy.
“We cannot afford to depend on others for technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure. It’s about protecting our citizens and defending our interests,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, adding that Europe must transform its research and industrial capacities into true sovereignty.
The proposed Chips Act 2.0 expands existing legislation from 2023. The Commission warns that AI components will account for more than 70% of the semiconductor market by 2030. The new regulation aims to accelerate approval processes for manufacturing, introduce a label of excellence for European regions, and connect manufacturers with end-users, such as data centers and cloud operators. The goal is to ensure that Europe has the capacity to produce the most advanced chips necessary for running large language models and industrial automation.
In the area of data infrastructure, the Commission plans, through the Cloud and AI Development Act, to triple the capacity of European data centers within the next five to seven years. The legislation aims to simplify the conditions for building these facilities while adhering to climate commitments. The document also introduces a unified EU-wide framework for assessing cloud and artificial intelligence sovereignty, which aims to protect sensitive data and critical applications from third-country influences, without completely closing the market for partners with similar values.
Open source software also plays a significant role in the new strategy. The Commission wants to support more than three million European contributors and create sovereign alternatives in priority areas such as cybersecurity and internet technologies. At the same time, a plan for the digitalization of energy was presented, which aims to use AI to streamline distribution networks and help households reduce energy bills through faster deployment of smart meters. In this context, the Commission plans to create European AI models exclusively trained on EU data.
The legislative proposals will now go to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU for discussion. A call for the establishment of so-called AI Gigafactories is expected to be launched in July. Concurrently, the Commission will initiate consultations with member states and the European Investment Bank on creating substantial capital capacities that would enable the financing of these strategic ambitions from European sources.