The European Commission has announced a new European technological sovereignty package, designed to further reduce its dependence on foreign technologies. The EU wants to focus on strengthening European capabilities in areas such as semiconductors, AI, cloud computing and open source projects.
The package consists of two legislative proposals. The first is the Chips Act 2.0, an update to legislation introduced in 2023 that was at the time a response to what the Commission called “critical vulnerabilities in the global semiconductor supply chain.”
As the AI boom drives market growth, the Chips Act 2.0 will introduce a new seal of excellence for European semiconductor regions, taking an ecosystem approach to AI-related and consumer chips. The EU wants to bring chipmakers closer to their customers so they can capitalize on growing sectors such as data centers and cloud providers.
Also among the proposals is the Cloud and AI Development Act, which strengthens the European project to triple the capacity of data centers on the continent over the next five to seven years. Legislation is another part of the EU’s Apply AI strategy, which encourages the adoption and innovation of AI in its member states.
The Commission says the law will “support research and innovation in cutting-edge and sustainable technologies, while balancing AI ambitions with climate commitments.” Data center deployment requirements in the EU will be streamlined, while a new EU-wide framework, built around cloud and AI sovereignty, will protect sensitive data while supporting the deployment of advanced AI and cloud technologies.
The new proposals also place a heavy emphasis on open source projects in growing sectors like AI and cybersecurity. The EU says it will support open source startups and invest in skills, while amplifying initiatives such as the Open Internet Stack.
The final element of the package is the Strategic Roadmap for Digitalization and AI in the Energy Sector, which underlines the Commission’s commitment to fostering cooperation between the energy and digital sectors and ensuring that any new data centers added to the network are done so in a sustainable and transparent manner. AI models “trained on European data and developed by European companies” will be key to improving Europe’s electricity infrastructure, and the Commission will encourage faster deployment of smart meters.
“We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, the stability of our energy networks and the security of our services,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “It’s about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, the industrial base and the single market. Together we must transform these assets into technological sovereignty.”
The set of new proposals will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The Commission also intends to consult Member States, the European Investment Bank Group and other stakeholders on how its technology sovereignty package will be financed.
Throughout 2026, we have seen a number of EU member states, particularly France, begin to stop relying too heavily on countries like the US and China for their technology needs. Last January, the French government announced that it was abandoning Zoom and Microsoft teams in favor of an in-house solution which will be implemented in all its civil service departments by next year. A few months later, the country also announced plans to switch Windows to open source Linux on its desktops.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the European Parliament was also taking steps to exclude Google from its internal computers. According to Policysearches carried out via the address bar on Firefox and Edge will soon be hosted by the French alternative Quant. Workers can always choose to use another search engine’s website or change their computer’s default systems if they wish.
