The European Commission has presented a new package of measures aimed at reducing Europe’s dependence on non-European suppliers for critical digital technologies. The European Technological Sovereignty Package focuses on semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, open source and the digitalisation of the energy sector.
The Commission says the package is intended to strengthen Europe’s technological autonomy and resilience. The measures come as demand for computing capacity is rising rapidly due to the growth of AI applications. At the same time, Europe remains dependent on suppliers outside the European Union for key parts of its digital infrastructure.
The package consists of two legislative proposals: the Chips Act 2.0 and the Cloud and AI Development Act. The Commission also presented an Open Source Strategy and a strategic roadmap for digitalisation and AI in the energy sector. Together, these measures are intended to give European companies, public administrations and citizens more choice in core technologies.
A central part of the package is the strengthening of Europe’s semiconductor industry. The existing Chips Act entered into force in 2023 as a response to vulnerabilities in the global chip supply chain. According to the Commission, Europe still depends heavily on third countries for advanced chip production and chip design. With the Chips Act 2.0, the EU wants to build on existing European strengths, including mainstream chips, while also expanding capacity in advanced semiconductors needed for AI applications.
The Commission wants to speed up permitting procedures, deepen cooperation with like-minded partners and introduce a new excellence label for European semiconductor regions. It also wants to bring chipmakers closer to customers in growth sectors such as data centres, cloud providers and AI Gigafactories.
The Cloud and AI Development Act is intended to expand Europe’s cloud and AI capacity. The Commission aims to triple data centre capacity in Europe over the next five to seven years. The emphasis will be on sustainable and innovative data centres, so that the growth of AI and cloud infrastructure can be aligned with Europe’s climate commitments. The proposal will also introduce an EU-wide framework to assess cloud and AI sovereignty.
For the robotics sector, the combination of AI, cloud and chips is particularly relevant. Modern robots increasingly depend on powerful AI models, reliable connectivity, sensor data and specialised hardware. The availability of European cloud and AI infrastructure could therefore influence the development and deployment of robotics in areas such as manufacturing, energy, healthcare, logistics and public services.
Open source also has a larger role in the European strategy. According to the Commission, Europe is home to more than three million open-source contributors. The new Open Source Strategy is intended to strengthen European alternatives in areas such as cloud, AI, internet technologies, cybersecurity and semiconductors. The Commission also wants to encourage greater use of open source in public administrations, including through procurement guidelines and practical examples.
The fourth part of the package concerns digitalisation and AI in the energy sector. The Commission wants data centres to be integrated into Europe’s energy system in a more sustainable way. At the same time, digital and AI solutions should help make electricity grids smarter, accelerate the rollout of smart meters and simplify the cross-border exchange of energy data.
The legislative proposals still need to be negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before they can be adopted and enter into force. The Commission also expects to launch a call for AI Gigafactories in July. In addition, it plans to consult Member States, the European Investment Bank and other stakeholders on new financing capacity for Europe’s technology sovereignty ambitions.
With the package, the EU is moving further towards a strategy based on technological autonomy. The Commission stresses that this does not mean Europe intends to close itself off from international partners. Instead, the aim is to gain more control over the infrastructure, software and hardware on which critical applications increasingly depend.
