The political, economic and societal changes that rattled the world in recent years has caused the European Union to take stock of itself and consider the possibility of further geopolitical earthquakes. One debate has revolved around the need for Europe to devise and prioritise strategic autonomy and self-reliance in technology in areas including AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, advanced cloud solutions and so on. The talking shop that resulted was open for business for years but few concrete actions resulted.
However, in light of what are now even more febrile geopolitics – the inexorable rise of Chinese power, the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere, and an aggressively expansionist Russia further emboldened by the sudden but determined isolationist stance adopted by the US administration under the second presidency of Donald Trump – minds have been sharply re-focused. It has struck home that Europe (quickly) needs to design and execute a plan to strengthen its self-determination in high-tech and that has led to the publication of a new paper, The EuroStack – Building a European Alternative for Technological Sovereignty.
This new 128-page report is a rationale for the construction of strong and resilient infrastructure to be built around a common key component digital stack – one that is designed to help strengthen Europe’s independence and self-determination and build a digital future that “mirrors European democratic values, economic ambitions, and environmental commitments and further, to ensure Europe is not dominated by ‘digital colonialism’ where industries are hollowed out, citizens under foreign surveillance, and climate goals held hostage by monopolies”.
Perhaps it’s already too late for much of that, but it might be a case of better late than never.
The EuroStack initiative is an unusual network of academics, policymakers and key companies and other networks. Currently, that alliance includes 31 companies, including Alcatel, Bosch, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Infineon, Nokia, NXP Semiconductors, Orange, Philips, Siemens and SAP, as well as four key R&D innovators and 12 alliances.
The report was commissioned and printed by Bertelsman Stiftung, a German think-tank that promotes “future oriented society”. It worked in cooperation with the Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose at the University College London, together with the Centre for European Policy Studies (another think-tank, headquartered in Brussels, that works with an extensive network of research bodies and institutes around the world), and Stiftung Mercator, a private, independent and not-for-profit organisation committed to an open society based on equal opportunities.
Of course, freedom always comes at a high price and, for Europe, the cost of developing its own vertical stack capable of ensuring technological independence from other world regions, including the US, while simultaneously increasing its competitiveness is estimated to cost at least €300bn over the next 10 years, of which, the report says, €150bn should be committed to the project and invested by 2030. The money will be governed and administered under the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, which is based on its four pillars of innovation, decarbonisation, security and the reduction of “bureaucratic hurdles”.
That final pillar needs to be the strongest, as it has a lot of load to bear. The EU’s massive economic, political and social arenas have evolved to the point that they are cluttered from end to end with bureaucratic hurdles. Efforts have been made to thin them out to some extent, but many major hurdles remain.
The EuroStack will be overseen by a chief EuroStack officer: He or she will be appointed by a steering committee made up of EU institutions, member countries, industry, academia and civil society. It will meet quarterly while an “advisory board of independent experts will provide guidance on technical, ethical, and policy matters”. That, presumably, is an early example of reduced bureaucracy in action.
The report is a serious, deeply considered and detailed document, the preface to which makes very clear that it is no longer a case of whether technology will shape Europe’s future but who will shape it and how, given that a handful of powerful global actors dominate much of the digital narrative, while many “smaller voices – particularly those advocating for the public interest – often struggle to be heard or to exert meaningful influence.”
The report adds: “This imbalance highlights a broader reality – digitalisation is no longer just one thematic silo among many [but] has become the structural backbone of our societies.”
Thus, Europe “must actively shape the digital arena rather than merely adapting to external trends. The time has come for Europeans to take decisive steps toward building an interconnected digital future on their own terms.”
Currently, more than 80% of Europe’s digital infrastructure and technologies are imported and the imbalance creates “systemic vulnerabilities” that hamper “the region’s capacity for innovation and self-reliance.” The promise is that the EuroStack initiative is to directly address these challenges by providing a comprehensive strategy to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, secure essential resources, and build a resilient and forward-looking digital ecosystem”.
Thankfully, the report also accepts the evident reality that, for Europe, “full self-sufficiency is neither feasible nor desirable in a globalised world. Instead, the EuroStack initiative promotes building strategic capabilities while maintaining beneficial international collaborations.”
AI: “The cornerstone of the EuroStack vision”
The report is worthy throughout but wordy and repetitive at times, frequently telling the reader words to the effect of “the EuroStack initiative is not just a policy framework; it is a call to action for a united Europe to take control of its digital destiny.”
It adds that “by prioritising strategic autonomy and integrating emerging technologies such as AI, quantum computing, and advanced cloud solutions, the strategy ensures Europe is prepared to confront future challenges while capitalising on emerging opportunities.” This, it evangelises, “is Europe’s moment to create a digital future that embodies its democratic ideals, economic aspirations, and environmental commitments, thereby ultimately strengthening its sovereignty and shaping its role in a multipolar world.”
And so it goes, up to and beyond the point where anyone would think “OK, you have banged the political drum for long enough, we get it, now can we have some policy details?” After much soul-searching, the document finally moves away from generalities and gets down to some nitty-gritty. It points out that the EU’s current place in the “global technological landscape is marked by significant dependencies”, adding that 80% of Europe’s digital technologies are imported primarily from major tech companies in the US and China. For example, where digital infrastructure is concerned, three huge US-based companies – Amazon, Microsoft, and Google – dominate almost 70% of the European cloud computing (infrastructure-as-a-service) market. By contrast, Europe’s biggest cloud provider company has a market share of just 2%.
Meanwhile, in R&D and patenting, European companies represent 7% of spending in software and internet technologies, while China accounts for 15% and the US, 71%. In electronics, Europe spends 12% of global R&D money while China, Japan and South Korea each account for 19% and the US accounts for 31%.
In terms of critical raw materials, such as the lithium, cobalt, nickel, gallium, graphite and tungsten that are vital to aerospace as well as the manufacture of semiconductors, batteries and other necessary products, China controls 90% of global rare earth refining capacity.
As for semiconductors, Europe consumes about 20% of the world’s microchips but manufactures less than 9%. The intent of the European Chips Act aims to double the EU’s share of the advanced semiconductor market to 20% by 2030, both to mitigate shortages and reduce dependencies on overseas suppliers. However, delays, financial problems and supply chain disruptions are making that look more unattainable with every passing day.
And then, of course, there’s AI, described in the report as “the cornerstone of the EuroStack vision”. As 70% of the foundational models of generative AI were developed in the US and with China possibly poised to overtake America in terms of AI innovation, the call is for Europe to “focus on fostering homegrown AI capabilities”.
Critics say that horse has already bolted but the report identifies AI as “a strategic enabler creating sovereign AI platforms and federated data spaces” and stresses that the EuroStack initiative “aims to reduce dependencies on foreign providers, protect intellectual property (IP) and position Europe as a leader in public interest AI.”
It adds, “Moreover, AI has the potential to significantly narrow the innovation gap between Europe and its global competitors “because it has the potential to extend across all sectors, from manufacturing and healthcare to public services and energy.” It is further claimed it could “significantly narrow the innovation gap between Europe and its global competitors.”
Let’s not forget that Europe most certainly has AI expertise, with France’s Mistral AI having been in the news frequently in recent days, not least for its close new ties with pan-European telco Orange.
Guiding principles and the 7-layer model
The EuroStack is a 7-layer model. The layers are:
1) Resources (the foundational layer of all the digital infrastructure), which runs the gamut from rare earth elements through to skilled labour.
2) Semiconductors, including processors and memory chips, GPUs, and emerging quantum communication systems.
3) Networks, which includes digital and physical connections, cell towers, fibre-optic networks, and the subsea cables that link Europe to the global digital ecosystem.
4) Connected devices, from smartphones and laptops to IoT devices that enable real-time information processing and data collection.
5) Cloud infrastructure, which covers secure data storage and computational power.
6) Software platforms, applications and algorithms, including operating systems, applications and cybersecurity frameworks.
7) Data, and artificial intelligence for the processing of data.
The guiding principles of the EuroStack are:
1) Sovereignty and security, which will ensure that Europe’s critical digital infrastructure remains under European jurisdiction, protected by robust security by-design and privacy-by-design frameworks.
2) De-proprietarisation and interoperability, to promote integration across an open-source, federated technology stack while reducing dependence on proprietary solutions from major technology corporations.
3) Sustainability: The construction of energy-efficient and resource-resilient systems that align with Europe’s environmental and climate goals.
4) Data as a “common good”, whereby it is treated as a shared resource with which to foster innovation whilst simultaneously safeguarding societal interests and fundamental rights.
5) Decentralised sovereign infrastructure, where edge computing and centralised systems are combined to enhance efficiency and data sovereignty.
6) Inclusive governance to establish harmonised regulations and accountability mechanisms to balance short-term resilience with long-term aims of the EuroStack.
Francesca Bria, an Italian economist and fellow at Stiftung Mercator and a Honorary Professor at the UCL’s Innovation and Public Purpose unit, helped to design the EuroStack initiative. In an interview with DLD News, she noted that the world is living in an era of “unhealthy dependencies.”
She added that Europe is a continent of close to 1 billion people producing a combined economic output of $28tn per annum, but “it is one of the wealthiest regions in the world, still an industrial superpower, yet highly reliant on technologies it doesn’t fully control.”
However, she believes that “when you’re autonomous, you can choose. You can choose what to buy. You can choose whether you’re partners, allies, semi-allies”. But with respect to AI, cloud services or most kinds of semiconductors, “let’s face it, we’re not autonomous.” Bria said the goal for Europe should be to create “a digital future that’s not the big tech oligarchy or the big tech Silicon Valley model, and it’s also not the big-state technology model that we see in China. I think the world really desperately needs a third way, another model that integrates technology into what kind of future we want.”
She is right.
– Martyn Warwick, Editor in Chief, TelecomTV
