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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: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Sunday March 23 2025, @05:04AM (3 children)
Lol - I am accused by some of being a liberal and, at the same time, by others of being a fascist who is supporting the right-wing. Neither of you is correct.
Putin announced in 2001 that he would restore Russia's influence and pride. We, the west, did not understand fully what he intended.
Since that time, he has explained further. He plans the complete return of Eastern Europe to Russia's sole area of influence. He has more recently rewritten the nuclear policy of Russia: If Russia believes that if its territory or people are threatened it reserves the right to use nuclear weapons as a first strike option. The problem is that Putin views the whole of Ukraine, the Baltic States, parts of Poland, Moldova, Georgia. various former republics and elsewhere as being "Russian". Some of those countries are now in NATO. If we surrender each time Putin threatens the use of theatre nuclear weapons in order to protect "Russians" then there will be no long term peace in Ukraine, Europe or elsewhere. Ukraine is not the end of it, but merely the start.
When the USA was threatened by Russian weapons being located in Cuba you did NOT surrender, but now you expect Europe to accept the same threats and just let Putin decide which countries are 'his'. But as this does not immediately affect the USA mainland Trump is prepared to throw the NATO defence agreement away just so that he can claim to be a peacemaker. Backing down is not a defence. Having a very clear line of what NATO will accept and what it will not is now vital again. Trump has already played his cards. It is too late to expect him to change his mind.
When you were at school you learned very quickly that if you give in to a bully you will never be free from his influence again. He will decide what you can do, and what you cannot do, and how you live some aspects of your life. Now is the time to stand up to a bully.
I served on a nuclear bomber crew. We knew what the role required of us. Our life expectancy was short once hostilities began. That is the decision that we all took when we agreed to serve. We also knew that the threat of our use helped maintain a peace of sorts. Putin has put the nuclear policy back 50 years or more. He is gambling on the West backing down. And a fair number of Americans are quite prepared to do so. That is why I say that we are being stabbed in the back. Not standing by Ukraine is like not fighting back against the bully. Ukraine NEEDS those security guarantees - which Russia has given before but now ignores. You only have to give in once and your future is decided. This is what NATO was designed for and when it comes to the test you are failing every one of those promises that you have made over the last 80 years.
Call me names - I learned to cope with that at school too. Try to pigeonhole my politics into something neat and tidy. You will not succeed in persuading me that we should go back to the Europe of the Cold War. I was part of it!
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Monday March 24 2025, @10:13PM (2 children)
I served on a nuclear bomber crew.
Vulcan?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday March 25 2025, @04:43AM (1 child)
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday March 25 2025, @09:11AM
Wow.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].