Tech Industry Urges Pragmatic Approach to European Tech Sovereignty
BRUSSELS – Global technology trade association ITI, the Information Technology Industry Council, today released its new paper, Advancing a Vision for Effective European Tech Sovereignty: An Industry Perspective from ITI, calling for a practical and cooperative approach to strengthening Europe’s technological resilience, security, and competitiveness.
ITI’s paper underscores that Europe’s goal of achieving technological sovereignty is a legitimate strategic objective and encourages policymakers to avoid isolationist or overly restrictive approaches that could undermine innovation, investment, and security. ITI advocates for a framework rooted in trust, openness, diversification, and global collaboration – ensuring that Europe can act independently when necessary while remainingintegrated into the global innovation ecosystem.
“Europe’s technological sovereignty will be most effective when built on competitiveness, trust, diversification and openness,” said ITI Director General for Europe Guido Lobrano. “True resilience means having access to and choosing among the world’s best and most secure technologies from trusted technology players. Europe can be both sovereign and globally connected.”
The paper outlines a series of recommendations to help the EU advance its sovereignty agenda across AI, cloud, semiconductors, infrastructure, and software. Key priorities include:
- Building resilience through trusted global cooperation, not exclusionary measures.
- Boosting competitiveness by simplifying regulation and attracting long-term investment.
- Leveraging AI at scale, boosting enablers of AI innovation and investing across the AI ecosystem.
- Implementing the EU 5G Toolbox and harmonizing ICT supply chain security rules.
- Encouraging investment in cloud and data center capacity to support Europe’s AI ambitions.
- Strengthening the open-source ecosystem as a foundation for transparency and innovation.
As Europe shapes its digital future through initiatives like the AI Continent Plan and the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act, ITI calls for coherence and balance to avoid conflicting goals – such as boosting AI and cloud capacity while simultaneously restricting access to global providers. Achieving true technological sovereignty will depend on Europe continuing to work hand in hand with trusted international partners. ITI members from around the world have long invested in Europe’s technologies, workforce, and innovation ecosystems, and remain committed to deepening this collaboration to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, security, and digital leadership.