Since Donald Trump returned to power, transatlantic relations continue to experience difficulties. The US is looking for excuses in all its legislation to maintain and impose tariffs on the Old Continentwhich has earned criticism this week from senior Commission officials. This happens at the same time that the Community Executive has just announced a package of measures to depend less on big technology companies, something that has been happening for months.
Although Brussels does not explicitly mention Google, Meta or Microsoft, there is no doubt: the European Union will study a “package of technological sovereignty measures” to reinforce its “autonomy and resilience.” In the package there are two legislative proposals, a Semiconductor Regulation 2.0 and a Cloud and AI Development Regulations; as well as a strategy related to open source developments and a roadmap to digitize the energy sector.
Some of these proposals already bear the imprint of the European Commissioner for Competition, Teresa Ribera, which has warned that this digitalization of the energy system “is an opportunity for Europe to obtain greater performance from existing infrastructure and reduce consumer bills.” “This package takes advantage of this opportunity and ensures that the growing demand for data centers is harmoniously integrated with the electrical grid.”
Although Brussels does not explicitly mention the large American technology companies, the set of initiatives is aimed at making the EU less dependent on them. It is a measure that responds to the Trump’s unsubtle comments in recent years mentioning that and EU countries on American digital platforms or tools.
In fact, in December of last year, when it became known that the European Union had just fined Europe has to be very careful when doing many things“he warned.
“We cannot depend on others for the technologies of our hospitals, electrical networks and services”
The European Commission itself admits that the measures come as Europe “continues to rely heavily on external providers for essential digital technologies.” In fact, one of the proposals included in this package is the idea of encouraging the hiring of open source digital tools. by reforming tender proceduresintroducing that quality as one of the elements to be considered in the competitions and awards.
The president of the European Commission herself, Ursula von der Leyen, goes further. In the presentation of this new industrial sovereignty strategy, the president was clear: “We cannot afford to depend on others. for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our power grids stable, and our services secure.
“It is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own decisions. Europe has talent, excellence in research, the industrial base and the Single Market. Together, we must convert these strengths into technological sovereignty,” he stressed.
