The European Union is stepping up efforts to strengthen its technological position. In a draft of the new Multiannual Financial Framework, the European Commission announced more than €400 billion from the European Competitiveness Fund for investments including digital transformation and the space sector. Under Horizon Europe, €175 billion is set to support the development of world-class innovation. Further announcements focus on strategies linked to semiconductor manufacturing in Europe, the expansion of data centres, and artificial intelligence. The goal of these initiatives is to increase technological sovereignty and improve the EU’s ability to compete with global leaders.
“The European Union must build its digital and technological capabilities—because that is the only way to preserve technological sovereignty,” Krzysztof Gawkowski, Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Minister for Digital Affairs, told Newseria. “Europe is betting on innovation, a technological leap, and technological sovereignty. That’s why there are various programmes designed to strengthen our competencies and give EU member states a chance to compete with global giants.”
A key element of the EU’s strategic shift is a set of projects aimed at digital sovereignty. One example is the European Chips Act, which seeks to increase semiconductor production in Europe, strengthen supply chains, and reduce dependence on external suppliers. The European Commission wants the EU’s share of global chip production to reach 20% by 2030.
Last year, the Commission also launched efforts to support the construction of European “AI factories”—infrastructure intended to enable the training of large models and advanced machine-learning systems on European hardware. In total, the initiative covers 19 AI factories in 16 member states, including two in Poland. Strengthening the EU’s role in artificial intelligence is also the aim of InvestAI, an instrument that envisages a €20 billion fund to create up to five AI gigafactories.
“I increasingly assess the European Union’s actions positively when it comes to supporting innovation. We are no longer focused exclusively on regulation,” said Dr Maciej Kawecki, President of the Lem Institute and Director of the Innovation Centre at WSB Merito University in Warsaw. “The current relationship between the European Union and the United States, and the Donald Trump administration, drives this. On the other hand, only 11 European AI companies are valued at more than one billion dollars—so the question arises: where are we in this race, and what role are we supposed to play?”
For now, Europe lags in the number of so-called AI unicorns. Among the world’s top 10 AI firms and the most valuable unicorns, European companies are notably absent.
“The answer to whether Europe has a chance to be a leader in large-scale AI is: of course it does not,” Dr Kawecki argues. “But the revolution we are in is more than just language models. It also includes application-level AI, the integration of quantum computers and quantum algorithms with AI mechanisms, unmanned aerial systems, and AI in predictive domains. There are many areas in which, in my view, Europe has a chance to be a leader.”
Europe also needs cross-border projects that connect countries within regions into stronger ecosystems, experts say. “A gigafactory, as one of the projects currently operating on the Old Continent, is an example of how to build strong regional cooperation based on digital technologies,” said Michał Kanownik, President of Digital Poland (Cyfrowa Polska). “I hope there will be more such projects—especially in Central and Eastern Europe, a region with a strong sense of shared history, shared needs, and today’s position in technological development. It is important that we create one strong voice in this region and build a strong digital hub for Europe.”
Experts also point to the need to increase funding for scientific research and development. At the EU level, Horizon Europe serves this purpose and has become the largest research programme in history. In December, the European Commission adopted a work programme for the next two years. Under it, €14 billion is to be allocated in 2026–2027 to research and innovation across all of the EU’s strategic objectives. Meanwhile, in the draft EU budget for 2028–2034, €175 billion is earmarked for Horizon Europe.
Funding for world-class innovation is also to be closely linked to the European Competitiveness Fund, for which the Commission has planned €409 billion. Priority areas within this fund include defence, the space industry, and digital transformation. According to the announcements, Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund will support the entire investment cycle of a project—from concept to scaling—while reducing both the costs borne by potential beneficiaries and the time needed to disburse funds.
In Dr Kawecki’s view, increased R&D spending could also be supported by major private investments in European data centres.
“The development of AI is also an area of science and research. One pathway is to create conditions in which large technology corporations are willing to spend billions of dollars within the European Union,” he explained. “A way to attract them is to open massive data centres—built with billions of dollars—cooled with Baltic Sea water or powered by renewable energy sources, because that is something that is lacking even in the United States today. If such data centres were built in the EU, billions of dollars would flow to us, and we could then re-channel those funds into science and innovation. Then we would have a chance to reach a point where we are not only present in the world of technology. This can be done within three to four years.”
Alongside investment initiatives, the European Commission has also announced plans to simplify rules for technology companies, including regulations related to AI and cybersecurity. This would also include consolidating EU data rules (via the Data Act) and accelerating the development of European AI companies by unlocking access to high-quality datasets for AI use. Deregulation is intended to be a key accelerator, long awaited by the new-technology sector. Companies have often argued that technological development is faster than lawmaking. In response, the Commission has begun reviewing regulations that hinder investment in technologies with fast product cycles.
“We are receiving a positive signal from the European Commission showing it understands that to build the competitiveness of the European economy, we must simplify the law and remove excessive barriers to innovation,” said Kanownik. “Innovation needs regulatory space to develop, to create new products and digital services. We will see how this process ends.”
The industry expects that combining deregulation with financing will increase European companies’ competitiveness in global markets.
The Deputy Prime Minister stresses that the ongoing digital revolution is also a component of building state security.
“The more we invest in this market, the more we try to bring out new talents, the more we support companies, the more cooperation there is between public administration, public institutions and business—the better it is for states and their development,” Gawkowski said. “That means a greater chance that no one will attack us, and if an attack does occur, we will be able to defend ourselves effectively. In the pre-war times we live in—when we need to rearm both in conventional terms and in cyberspace—responsibility for science, new technologies and basic research must be at the centre of the government’s attention. This is how Poland treats this area.”
