Industry calls on EU Commission to launch "Buy European" initiative

In a letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, who is responsible for digital affairs, almost 90 companies, including very large ones such as Airbus, medium-sized ones such as Dassault, Ionos, OVH and smaller ones such as Nextcloud, have written to the Commission. The senders are calling on the EU to make a clear commitment to European digital solutions in light of transatlantic developments.

"Europe must take the initiative and become technologically independent across all layers of the critical digital infrastructure," reads the letter, which is available to heise online. Europe's dependence on third parties is responsible for security and reliability risks, compromises sovereignty and prevents economic growth. If Europe does not act, dependence on non-European technologies will be almost complete in less than ten years, the companies and associations warn.

Above all, hardware autonomy, cloud offerings and platforms should be at the center of EU efforts, but explicitly open. Above all, services with a direct impact on cyber security should be prioritized, according to the signatories. Another key demand on the EU is to organize joint procurement that enables federated offerings across industry standards. The choice for this would be interoperable open source solutions. As a first step, Europe must focus on solutions for specific use cases.

Highly secure cloud to become EU anchor point

In order to support "Buy European", the companies therefore want to achieve changes to the "EU Cloud Services Cybersecurity Certification Scheme" – by technically defining a "High+" trust level in which even the most sensitive data could be stored. This is a demand that some of the companies now writing to von der Leyen have been making for some time and which, in addition to operation by trustworthy EU providers, should also require data localization and encryption. The initiators see this as the only way to move from local storage to trustworthy cloud solutions – and, for some, a potentially good deal or at least necessary protection against overpowering transatlantic competition.

The initiative also focuses on funding: the EU, which manages billions in funding for research and strategic business location, should set up a "Sovereign Infrastructure Fund" to support public, capital-intensive investments such as quantum computers or a chip ecosystem. The companies and associations are also calling for a revision of the EU's current funding plans. They argue that Europe cannot regulate its way out of the current situation.

"Buy European" not yet enshrined in EU law

A spokesperson for the EU Commission emphasized at midday that the EU procurement rules are currently being revised. However, it is still too early in this process to say which sectors are considered strategic and may therefore be treated differently. The EU Commission is currently working on a legal framework under the heading "Clean Industrial Deal", which could include a quota for European tenders for strategically relevant goods and services. Together with the Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator Act, which deals with climate-neutral products and services, the proposed legislation is to be presented by the end of 2025 at the latest.

(nie)