13 EU tech companies and Greens/EFA urge Commission to support home-grown industry

Today, 13 high-profile European tech companies and 6 NGOs join forces with the Greens/EFA Group and call on the European Commission to commit to stronger protection and support for Europe’s digital industry.

Among the signatories are OVHcloud, Proton, Mastodon, Nextcloud, Ecosia and more, representing a growing EU tech ecosystem with over 3,000 employees, a combined revenue of more than €1 billion annually and tens of millions of users and customers.

Read the full declaration HERE.

Ahead of the presentation of the EU Tech Sovereignty Package on Wednesday, they urge the European Commission for a strong commitment to democratic European solutions:

“It is time for the Union to act with ambition, use and strengthen its technological capabilities through investment, open ecosystems, sovereign and resilient infrastructure.

“We invite the European Commission and Member States to commit to strengthening Europe’s digital foundations through openness, interoperability as well as fair competition and strategic regulations.”

Register for our press briefing today at 15:00 HERE.

MEP Alexandra Geese, Greens/EFA negotiator of last mandate’s Digital Services Act (DSA), comments:

“This unique declaration is a wake up call for Ursula von der Leyen. Europe’s digital future must no longer be used as a bargaining chip in trade talks with the US. Our message is simple: Build European, buy European, protect European.

“Europe’s digital industry, civil society and political actors are speaking with one voice. We need a strong EU Tech Sovereignty Package and the political courage to enforce our rules, invest in our own technology and stop treating European tech as an afterthought.”

MEP Kim van Sparrentak, Greens/EFA negotiator of the recent AI Omnibus, comments:

“European technology is not only about where products are built, but about the values they are built on. ‚Made in Europe‘ must mean privacy by design, open standards, fair competition, energy efficiency and democratic accountability. If Europe wants digital sovereignty, it must invest in technologies that people can trust and that serve the public interest. And not the US model based on surveillance capitalism, which only serves Trump’s Tech Bros.”

More:

The declaration emphasizes the following core principles:

1. Strategic Technological Sovereignty
2. Plurality and competition in Digital Markets
3. Distributed and Resilient Digital Infrastructure
4. Strategic Public Procurement
5. Interoperability and Open Standards
6. Transparency and integrity in sovereignty claim

Full list of first signatories:

EU Tech Stars

· Anne Duboscq, Public Affairs and Communication Director, OVHcloud

· Christos Floros, CEO, Monnett Social

· Felix Hlatky, Executive Director, Mastodon

· Frank Karlitschek, Founder and CEO, NextCloud

· Julie Latawiec, Director for Public Affairs, Cloud Temple

· Jutta Horstmann, Co-CEO, Heinlein Group

· Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, Founder and CEO, QuantWare

· Quentin Adam, CEO and Founder, Clever Cloud

· Raphaël Auphan, COO, Proton

· Román Orús, Cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer, Multiverse Computing

· Sebastian Vogelsang, Co-Lead, Eurosky; Founder and CEO, flashes for Bluesky

· Wessel klein Snakenborg, Founder and CEO, NovaCustom

· Wolfgang Oels, Chief Operating Officer, Ecosia

Civil Society

· Alice Stollmeyer, Founder and Director, Defend Democracy

· Björn Staschen, Director, Save Social

· Michael Hrebeniak (Dr), Convenor, NSotA

· Romain Beylerian, Vice Secretary, Association Tournesol

· Siddhi Pal, Lead, AI Workforce and Innovation, Interface

· Tobias B. Bacherle, Senior Germany Lead, FOTI (Future of Technology Institute)

MEPs

· Alexandra Geese, MEP, Greens/EFA

· David Cormand, MEP, Greens/EFA

· Diana Riba i Giner, MEP, EFA President and first Vice-President of the Greens/EFA Group

· Kim Van Sparrentak, MEP, Greens/EFA

· Reinier van Lanschot, MEP, Greens/EFA (Volt)

· Sergey Lagodinsky, MEP and Vice-President of the Greens/EFA Group

· Terry Reintke, MEP and Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group

PDF VERSION HERE