In a letter addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and digital chief Henna Virkkunen, more than 80 signatories representing around 100 organisations have effectively told Brussels to stop dithering and start backing homegrown alternatives—before the likes of Washington decide to pull the plug.
They want EU lawmakers to funnel cash and support into European-made apps, platforms, AI models, chips, storage, and connectivity instead of continuing to fatten Silicon Valley’s already overstuffed wallets.
The letter, backed by heavyweights like Airbus, OVHCloud, Nextcloud, and Proton, is the latest sign that European industry is gearing up for a tech war footing. The push for what they’re calling a “Euro stack” isn’t just some delusion of grandeur—it’s a necessity if Europe wants to avoid getting digitally kneecapped by the next arbitrary diktat from a White House occupied by Donald [hamburger-eating surrender monkey] Trump.
As demonstrated at the Munich Security Conference, where US Vice President JD [nice sofa] Vance reportedly tore into Europe with all the subtlety of a pitbull on steroids, the old world order is as dead as Troubled Chipzilla’s innovation pipeline.
The Americans have made it clear: play by their rules or get steamrolled. And with key tech infrastructure in European hands about as common as a warm British summer, the risks of an abrupt switch-off are terrifyingly real.
Ecosia COO Wolfgang Oels said: “Imagine Europe without internet search, email, or office software. It would mean the complete breakdown of our society… Sounds unrealistic? Well, something similar just happened to Ukraine.”
He was commenting on how Trump allegedly yanked access to vital digital services as punishment for Ukraine refusing to hand over its land and minerals.
The plan isn’t just about whining to the EU—there’s a strategy here. The letter calls for a “Buy European” mandate, requiring at least some public sector contracts to go to European providers.
This mirrors what is already done in America and China. Europe, in its infinite wisdom, has spent decades rolling out the red carpet for everyone else while its own industry gets trampled.
Economist Cristina Caffarra, a key brain behind the EuroStack strategy, said, “We need the public sector to be told to buy European, or mostly European. What’s so bad about that?”
This would require some muscle in procurement rules and some financial backing as a “Sovereign Infrastructure Fund.” The idea is that a bit of strategic cash injection—particularly in critical tech areas like chips and quantum computing—could finally give European firms the fighting chance they’ve been denied for decades.
To put it politely, the EU’s track record on digital sovereignty is laughable. The Gaia-X cloud project was supposed to be a tremendous European answer to US and Chinese dominance—until AWS, Microsoft, and Google waltzed in and turned it into a glorified marketing stunt.
Caffarra said:“When AWS and Microsoft in particular, and Google, got into Gaia-X, they blew it up from inside,” she said.
The EU’s regulatory obsession isn’t helping either. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was meant to rein in Big Tech, but according to Proton CEO Andy Yen, it’s been about as effective as a chocolate teapot.
“One year after the introduction of DMA, nothing has materially changed, and the market share of Big Tech in Europe is unchanged,” he says.
Of course, it’s not just about protectionism. The push for European digital sovereignty also includes basic security and self-preservation.
Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek warned that Europe is one Trump executive order away from being held hostage by Washington.
“The US executive right now is showing they have no qualms using executive power, from tariffs to sanctions, to achieve completely unrelated goals,” he said.
At a Monday press briefing, Commission spokeswoman Lea Zuber couldn’t even confirm whether digital infrastructure would be included in an upcoming review of public procurement rules.
