Airbus And European Technology Companies Call For Sovereignty Infrastructure Funds And The "Buy European" Policy

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (photo: x @vorderleyen)

JAKARTA Airbus, Dassault Systemes, and more than 90 technology companies in Europe as well as lobby groups have urged the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to form sovereignty infrastructure funds to increase public investment in cutting-edge technology.

In an open letter dated March 14, these companies highlight the latest developments in the US and EU which show the need for Europe to take concrete steps to maintain its strategic autonomy in important sectors.

"Europe needs to reclaim initiatives and become more technologically independent across all levels of its critical digital infrastructure, ranging from logical infrastructure such as applications, platforms, media, AI and model frameworks, to physical infrastructure such as chips, computing, storage, and connectivity," the letter reads.

They assert that Europe's current dependence creates risks to security and reliability, threatens sovereignty, and hinders economic growth. Therefore, the establishment of sovereignty infrastructure funds is considered a key step to finance this ambitious effort, especially in sectors that require large capital such as quantum technology and semiconductors.

In addition, the letter also proposed a "Buy European" policy in the government procurement tender to encourage demand and provide incentives for local businesses to invest.

"The goal is not to exclude non-European players, but to create space where European suppliers can compete legally and get investment justification," they added.

Some of the signings of this letter include cloud service providers from France, OVH Cloud, and colleagues in other EU countries, the European Software Institute, the European Startup Network, the German AI Association, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), and the French public investment bank BPI France.

The letter was also addressed to the EU's Head of Technology, Henna Vikkunen.