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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
A group of technology companies and lobbyists want the European Commission (EC) to take action to reduce the region's reliance on foreign-owned digital services and infrastructure.
In an open letter to EC President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty Henna Virkkunen, the group of nearly 100 organizations proposed the creation of a sovereign infrastructure fund to invest in key technology and lessen dependence on US corporations.
The letter points to recent events, including the farcical Munich Security Conference, as a sign of "the stark geopolitical reality Europe is now facing," and says that building strategic autonomy in key sectors is now an urgent imperative for European countries.
Signatories include aerospace giant Airbus, France's Dassault Systèmes, European cloud operator OVHcloud, chip designer SiPearl, open source biz Nextcloud, and a host of others including organizations such as the European Startup Network.
OVHcloud said the group was calling "for a collective industrial policy strategy to strengthen Europe's competitiveness and strategic autonomy. We are convinced this is the premise of what we hope will be a larger movement of the entire ecosystem."
Proposals include the sovereign infrastructure fund, which would be able to support public investment, especially in capital-intensive sectors like semiconductors, with "significant additional commitment of funds allocated and/or underwritten" by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and national public funding bodies.
It also suggests there should be a formal requirement for the public sector to "buy European" and source their IT requirements from European-led and assembled solutions, while recognizing that these may involve complex supply chains with foreign components.
[...] This isn't the first time that concerns about US hegemony in technology have been raised. Recently, the DARE project launched to develop hardware and software based on the open RISC-V architecture, backed by EuroHPC JU funding, while fears have been aired about the dominance of American-owned cloud companies in the European market.
Such concerns have been heightened by recent actions, such as the suggestion that the US might cut off access to Starlink internet services in Ukraine as a political bargaining strategy. Starlink owner Elon Musk later denied that this would ever happen.
The letter notes that these issues have already been set out by the EuroStack initiative, made up of many of the companies that signed the letter to EC President von der Leyen. The Register asked the European Commission to comment.
On the other side of the pond, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) recently published a report claiming that US companies face "substantial financial burdens" due to the European Union's digital regulations.
It says that US tech companies are losing "billions" through having to comply with regulations such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and having to obtain user consent for their data to be used for advertising purposes.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Saturday March 22 2025, @04:32PM (7 children)
I actually think USA foreign policy is quite sensible. Russia and China together is a far bigger threat than each acting separately. I think the creation of the axis of North Korea, China, Iran, Russia was a huge mistake of Biden/Boris Johnson. It is a good idea to break that axis. There is a tight rope to walk to bring Russia back to the West (since 1990s when they were allied), and I think it is essential we do it.
Not sure that is Trump's planning - he seems not to be very strategic and a bit more haphazard/disorganised. But it's what I would do.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by number11 on Sunday March 23 2025, @04:37AM (6 children)
I doubt that Iran is part of any axis, other than those who will trade with them. The US is blocking trade, so what sources of foreign income do they have? Note that Iran does not recognize Russia's claims to Ukranian territory even now. They're just selling stuff to whoever will buy it.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Sunday March 23 2025, @06:01AM (3 children)
Which happens to be Russia and China. I sense a pattern here. Also keep in mind that we still don't have a clear idea of why Iran's proxies started a war with Israel last year. It might have been at the behest of Russia.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Sunday March 23 2025, @05:27PM (2 children)
Yes, Russia and China have become their trade partners. I suspect that the fact that the US bans commerce with Iran even by other countries may have something to do with that. What countries would you expect them to trade with, if the US (and because of US pressure, Europe) won't trade with them?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday March 23 2025, @10:55PM (1 child)
The worst of the lot is who I'd expect them to trade with. And well, it's not a stretch to group them at that point.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by number11 on Monday March 24 2025, @06:14PM
It's not like the US doesn't trade with Russia and China as well. And making threats toward Canada, Denmark, and Mexico. Yeah, the Iranian theocracy is scum, just like the Saudi one. But the Iranian theocracy came about because the US propped up the Shah and his secret police. No point pretending anybody has clean hands in this show.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Sunday March 23 2025, @09:53AM (1 child)
> The US is blocking trade, so what sources of foreign income do they have?
Your comment exactly supports my point! Economics and military strategy are bedfellows - for example the reason, historically, US supported Europe is because US and Europe are strong trade partners.
ps: I guess one might argue that this is only a "trade relationship", but Iran has been supplying Russia with arms to prosecute the invasion of Ukraine:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/25/politics/us-russia-iran-drones/index.html [cnn.com]
(with many other hits from a search engine)
(Score: 2) by number11 on Sunday March 23 2025, @05:17PM
Sure Iran has been supplying arms to Russia (I heard that Russia pays in gold). They'd probably sell arms to Ukraine, too, if the money was right. Does the fact that the US sells (or gives) arms to Israel necessarily mean that the US is pro-genocide?