The European Union (EU) has put forward today its highly anticipated Tech Sovereignty Package, a sweeping policy framework designed to dismantle the bloc’s massive reliance on foreign technology and secure its digital future.
The package is highly awaited also because the European Commission has postponed it three times. The Commission originally planned to present the deal on 25 March, then pushed back to 15 April and then to 27 May–before the latest postponement to 3 June.
The plan includes the Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act 2, amid growing tensions over EU digital rules and United States (US) criticism of protectionist policies.
The legislative push follows a stark warning delivered by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her 2025 State of the Union address, where she framed the initiative as central to Europe’s ‘independence moment’. With geopolitical and economic pressures mounting, EU officials are moving rapidly to pivot from a defensive regulatory stance to becoming an active builder of sovereign digital infrastructure.
Digital for Planet works on several topics that directly relate to this EU policy and everyday practices. Therefore, we could not miss the moment when the Tech Sovereignty Package is finally out.
Confronting the 80% vulnerability
At the heart of the new framework is a sobering reality check: the EU currently relies on non-EU countries for resources—primarily the US and China—for over 80% of its critical digital products, services, infrastructure, and intellectual property.
Industry analysts warn that this systemic vulnerability leaves Europe deeply exposed to supply chain bottlenecks, foreign data overreach, and economic coercion. By aggressively reining in this dependency, Brussels aims to shore up its long-term economic strength and critical infrastructure defense.
“Ultimately, it is about having the freedom and the power to determine our own destiny”, von der Leyen remarked, emphasising that true strategic autonomy cannot exist when the core of the digital economy is outsourced.
A blueprint for digital independence: 5 pillars
Rather than acting simply as a protectionist barrier (as especially claimed by the US), the Tech Sovereignty Package is structured as a comprehensive roadmap to reshape Europe’s technological footprint around five core pillars:
- Competitiveness and resilience: bolstering domestic capabilities in high-stakes fields like AI, cloud computing, and next-generation semiconductors.
- Strategic autonomy: ending critical dependencies through targeted legislative actions, including a fresh Cloud and AI Development Act.
- Fair and open markets: ensuring that the digital marketplace remains competitive, transparent, and fair for local European innovators rather than monopolized by global tech giants.
- Democratic rights and safety: safeguarding citizens’ data rights online, protecting democratic processes, and shielding critical networks from cyber threats.
- Innovation leadership: investing in ‘digital commons’—such as open-source frameworks—to drive collaborative, long-term European technology leadership.
From vision to action
The impending rollout signals a massive shift in how Europe handles public procurement and digital and industrial policy. By embedding a unified definition of ‘digital sovereignty’ into EU financial and operational frameworks, the bloc plans to leverage its immense collective purchasing power to favor trusted, secure, and European-hosted solutions.
Critics question whether Europe can rapidly scale its computing and data capacity to bridge the massive 80% gap. EU leaders, at their end, remain steadfast. The upcoming package represents a definitive choice, they say: ensuring that the infrastructure and values governing Europe’s digital future are firmly anchored at home. Time will tell.