The EU should build sovereign AI infrastructure to reduce dependence on US providers

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Arguments for

Control over critical systems

Supporters argue that AI is now critical infrastructure, so depending on non-European providers leaves Europe exposed to outside control, higher costs, restricted access and security risks. They say Europe needs the sovereign ability to access, select and control frontier models and compute so essential services and strategic choices cannot be limited or switched off by others.

The EU must nonetheless strengthen its sovereign ability to access, select, control, and benefit from frontier AI models.

European AI Office · Jul 15, 2026 · full quote
To use the most advanced AI models, we largely depend on non-European infrastructure, and not just for the software itself. At best, this dependence will increase our costs. At worst, it will restrict our access to the most advanced AI models, which would be disastrous for Europe…

René Obermann · Jul 15, 2026 · full quote
We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure. This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, t…

Ursula von der Leyen · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
AI is now a critical infrastructure, as essential as electricity or the Internet. An infrastructure whose models and computing power we do not control is an infrastructure that others can unplug.

Édouard Philippe · Jun 13, 2026 · full quote
This sentiment of renting AI from someone rather than owning it is a national security risk [...] You need to fully control it.

Aidan Gomez · Jun 23, 2026 · full quote

Keeping value and competitiveness

Another case is economic: Europe lags in compute capacity and relies heavily on foreign cloud, so without faster expansion of data centres, chips, energy and research infrastructure it will remain a customer while value creation happens elsewhere. Building domestic capacity is presented as the way to support European frontier models, startups, talent and sector-specific advantages.

Europe controls only a fraction of the global AI infrastructure, but is a major user. While the United States accounts for about 75 percent of the world’s high-performance computing capacity for modern AI, and China about 15 percent, Europe lags far behind with less than 5 percen…

Clemens Fuest · Jun 19, 2026 · full quote
Si nous ne construisons pas notre propre capacité de calcul, nous deviendrons des États vassaux, fournissant simplement l’électricité verte pendant que la valeur ajoutée et la souveraineté resteront aux États-Unis.

Arthur Mensch · May 18, 2026 · full quote
Having entered the AI era over-regulated and under-industrialized, Europe imports the vast majority of its advanced semiconductors, pays materially higher industrial electricity prices than the US, and still relies on American cloud providers for the bulk of its compute. [...] Gi…

Soňa Muzikárová · Feb 5, 2026 · full quote
A CERN for AI could give Europe the computational infrastructure to build its own frontier AI models, and to spur a thriving ecosystem of high-tech startups and scale-ups, underpinned by talent that would be incentivised to work in and for Europe.

Centre for Future Generations · Sep 4, 2024 · full quote
And of course, our economy has entered the race for AI, cloud computing, chips, quantum technology, from downstream to upstream. [...] And let’s be clear : Europe doesn’t want to be the client of the big entrepreneurs or the big solutions being provided either from the U.S. or fr…

Emmanuel Macron · Nov 18, 2025 · full quote
Today, we’ve taken a bold and swift step towards proceeding with establishing AI gigafactories in Europe. AI is one of the most critical technologies of our time, defining our digital future, and investing in the needed infrastructure capacity for AI is essential for boosting Eur…

Nicodemos Damianou · Jan 16, 2026 · full quote

EU-wide ecosystem buildout

Some proponents focus on execution at EU scale: upgrading supercomputers into AI Factories and Gigafactories, streamlining datacentre deployment, and setting common EU conditions for cloud and AI services. In this view, sovereignty requires an ecosystem that links compute with connectivity, data and coordination, not isolated national projects.

We will upgrade our unique public network of supercomputers into AI Factories and AI Gigafactories. At the same time, we are expanding Europe's computing capacity through the recent Cloud and AI Development Act, paving the way for a sovereign AI ecosystem with a strong emphasis o…

European Union · Jul 7, 2026 · full quote
The cloud and AI development act will support research and innovation in cutting-edge and sustainable technologies, streamline conditions for deploying datacentres across the EU, and introduce a single EU-wide framework to assess cloud and AI sovereignty.

European Commission · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
Recognising the critical position of cloud technologies in the European digital environment, we are aiming to provide the right regulatory conditions for the development of sovereign cloud and AI computing services in the EU.

Henna Virkkunen · Feb 23, 2026 · full quote
Europe’s sovereign cloud ecosystem itself cannot flourish without robust, advanced and scalable connectivity, and sovereign telco technologies.

Connect Europe · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
A sovereign AI capability therefore requires not only compute infrastructure, data ecosystems, model development initiatives, but also an operational coordination layer linking them.

Gintautas Vindašius · Feb 17, 2026 · full quote

Local jurisdiction for sensitive use

A more operational view holds that sensitive organisations need advanced AI under their own jurisdiction and on terms they control. Sovereign infrastructure, local models and held model weights are presented as ways to scale AI securely without dependence on vendor policy, continuity or clearance decisions.

Our AI infrastructure investment will allow sensitive organizations to access the most advanced AI capabilities, on their own terms under their own jurisdiction.

Jean Coumaros · Jun 17, 2026 · full quote
The paper further argues that open-weight models are the counterintuitive instrument of sovereign control: a government that holds the weights commands the capability on its own terms, without dependence on vendor policy, financial continuity, or personnel clearance.

Jared James Grogan · Mar 18, 2026 · full quote
The new sovereign infrastructure – combined with local large language models and flexible access models – provides the foundation for securely scaling AI initiatives and embedding them in the core business.

Tomas Chroust · May 26, 2026 · full quote
Germany and France are building the infrastructure that Europe needs to stay resilient, innovative, and in control of its own digital future.

Nikolaus Hagl · Jun 17, 2026 · full quote

Arguments against

Protectionism slows adoption

Opponents argue that Europe's core problem is weak tech-driven productivity, not its use of American technology, and that building walls around AI would slow digital adoption. They warn that limiting access to the best rapidly advancing tools, or decoupling wholesale from US cloud, could hurt competitiveness more than it helps sovereignty.

However, Europe’s primary economic challenge is its anemic tech-driven productivity growth, not its use of American technology. Embracing protectionism will do nothing to remedy this failure, nor will it miraculously create new European technology champions, but it would further …

Tanya Nagrath · Jun 11, 2026 · full quote
We deliver a lot of value to Europe. Erecting walls that make it harder to use some of the best technology in the world, especially as it’s advancing so quickly, would actually be counter-productive. [...] If we have 190 countries with 190 different rules, it’s very difficult to …

Kent Walker · Feb 13, 2026 · full quote
trying to decouple wholesale from US cloud risks hurting European competitiveness more than it helps sovereignty.

Chris Stokel-Walker · Dec 19, 2025 · full quote

Sovereign rules may fragment markets

Some critics distinguish capacity-building from exclusion: they support more European data-centre capacity but argue it should be achieved by attracting investment. They warn that sovereignty rules in procurement or critical sectors could create fragmented, discriminatory requirements across Europe.

The EU’s ambition to triple data centre capacity is the right one. But the way to achieve that goal is by attracting investment, not shutting it out.

Mitchell Rutledge · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
The Cloud and AI Development Act is a direct recipe for fragmented discrimination across Europe in 27 different ways, not only in public procurement but potentially also across thousands of private critical entities, from banks to energy companies.

Daniel Friedlaender · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
We deliver a lot of value to Europe. Erecting walls that make it harder to use some of the best technology in the world, especially as it’s advancing so quickly, would actually be counter-productive. [...] If we have 190 countries with 190 different rules, it’s very difficult to …

Kent Walker · Feb 13, 2026 · full quote

Full stack is unrealistic

A stronger skeptical view is that a full sovereign stack from chips to cloud to software is unrealistic in an interdependent system. From this perspective, massive subsidies and Buy European-style policies would chase a costly mirage and risk stagnation rather than strategic strength.

Governments are on track to spend more than $1 trillion by 2030 chasing a sovereign stack, the full range of hardware and capabilities necessary to deploy and operate AI infrastructure. [...] In an interdependent system, the question shifts from how to become independent to how t…

Jeremy Jurgens · 2026 · full quote
Proponents of a "EuroStack" argue that Europe must build its own alternative at every level — from chips to cloud to software. But this path represents a €5-trillion mirage. Attempting to decouple from the global tech ecosystem through massive subsidies and "Buy European" clauses…

William Echikson · 2026 · full quote

Middle ground

Reduce dependence, not isolate

Some quotes frame strategic autonomy as reducing excessive dependencies, not eliminating interdependence. They favour building joint sovereign capability with allies and more European capacity, while keeping the environment open enough to attract investment and work within a connected global system.

Strategic autonomy is the relevant concept. No economy is completely independent, but Europe must strengthen its capabilities to reduce excessive dependencies in key technologies.

Marc Murtra · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
We must also work more concertedly with allies to develop joint sovereign capability. AI development needs to be part of an economic security reset with the EU, and we need to be able to participate in the Scaleup Europe Fund.

Anneliese Dodds · Jul 8, 2026 · full quote
Today’s Joint Declaration of intent moves the German-Canadian Digital Alliance from vision to implementation. Germany and Canada are united in our belief that responsible AI development and resilient digital ecosystems are critical to long-term economic strength. By deepening coo…

Karsten Wildberger · Feb 14, 2026 · full quote
The EU’s ambition to triple data centre capacity is the right one. But the way to achieve that goal is by attracting investment, not shutting it out.

Mitchell Rutledge · Jun 3, 2026 · full quote
Governments are on track to spend more than $1 trillion by 2030 chasing a sovereign stack, the full range of hardware and capabilities necessary to deploy and operate AI infrastructure. [...] In an interdependent system, the question shifts from how to become independent to how t…

Jeremy Jurgens · 2026 · full quote

Insights

Several supporters define sovereignty in terms of ownership, access, control or jurisdiction over models and compute, not simply higher spending.
At least one critical industry voice supports more European data-centre capacity while arguing the route should be to attract investment rather than exclude it.
Many pro quotes tie AI infrastructure to hospitals, energy, defence or national security, showing a security framing that goes beyond productivity alone.
Supporters often describe sovereign AI as a full-ecosystem problem involving compute, cloud, chips, energy, connectivity, data, models and coordination.
Support in the sample comes from EU institutions, national governments and European infrastructure companies, while several opposing voices come from trade associations or analysts concerned about protectionism and fragmentation.

Supporters frame sovereign AI infrastructure as control over a critical capability: without European compute, cloud and related ecosystems, they argue, Europe risks strategic vulnerability and losing industrial value. Opponents focus on the risks of the policy response, warning that discriminatory rules, protectionism or attempts to recreate the full stack could reduce access, investment and competitiveness. Across the quotes, the central dispute is over how sovereignty should be defined and pursued, not simply whether AI infrastructure matters.

Cast your vote:

Results (64 votes):

Total (64 votes)

For 56 (88%) Abstain 0 (0%) Against 8 (13%)

For (54)

European AI Office
European Commission body implementing and enforcing the EU AI Act.

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votes For and says:

The EU must nonetheless strengthen its sovereign ability to access, select, control, and benefit from frontier AI models.
AI Verified source (Jul 15, 2026)

added 22d ago

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Delegate
René Obermann
Chairman of Airbus; former CEO of Deutsche Telekom.

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votes For and says:

To use the most advanced AI models, we largely depend on non-European infrastructure, and not just for the software itself. At best, this dependence will increase our costs. At worst, it will restrict our access to the most advanced AI models, which ...
more AI Verified source (Jul 15, 2026)

added 23d ago

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Delegate
Anneliese Dodds
UK Labour Member of Parliament for Oxford East; former Chair of the Labour Party.

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votes For and says:

We must also work more concertedly with allies to develop joint sovereign capability. AI development needs to be part of an economic security reset with the EU, and we need to be able to participate in the Scaleup Europe Fund.
AI Verified source (Jul 8, 2026)

added 24d ago

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European Union
Political and economic union

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votes For and says:

We will upgrade our unique public network of supercomputers into AI Factories and AI Gigafactories. At the same time, we are expanding Europe's computing capacity through the recent Cloud and AI Development Act, paving the way for a sovereign AI ecos...
more AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 22d ago

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Delegate
Roberto Viola
Director-General for Communications, Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission.

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votes For and says:

We will upgrade our unique public network of supercomputers into AI Factories and AI Gigafactories. At the same time, we are expanding Europe's computing capacity through the recent Cloud and AI Development Act, paving the way for a sovereign AI ecos...
more AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 23d ago

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Delegate
European Systemic Risk Board
European Union body responsible for macro-prudential oversight and the prevention or mitigation of systemic risks to financial stability.

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votes For and says:

The ESRB General Board calls on the EU to scale up its capacity, expertise and strategic autonomy in this critical area.
AI Verified source (Jul 7, 2026)

added 23d ago

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Delegate
Willemijn Aerdts
Dutch State Secretary for Digital Economy and Sovereignty.

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votes For and says:

Nederland heeft alles in huis om een leidende rol te spelen in de ontwikkeling en toepassing van grensverleggende en verantwoorde AI: slimme ondernemers, innovatieve kennisinstellingen en een sterke chipindustrie. Door samen met Europese partners te ...
more AI Verified source (Jul 3, 2026)

added 23d ago

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Government of the Netherlands
National government of the Netherlands, publishing its international strategy for a safe and responsible AI transition.

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votes For and says:

De Europese AI-infrastructuur is sterk afhankelijk van niet-Europese aanbieders, wat in deze tijd van geopolitieke spanning economische en veiligheidsrisico’s met zich meebrengt. Het kabinet wil daarom strategische afhankelijkheden in de wereldwijde ...
more AI Verified source (Jul 3, 2026)

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Delegate
Uljan Sharka
Chief Executive Officer of Domyn.

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votes For and says:

The next wave of AI in Europe will be won by those who own and control the intelligence at the heart of their business.
AI Verified source (Jul 2, 2026)

added 1d ago

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Aidan Gomez
Co-founder and CEO of Cohere; co-author of "Attention Is All You Need" Transformer paper

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votes For and says:

This sentiment of renting AI from someone rather than owning it is a national security risk [...] You need to fully control it.
AI Verified source (Jun 23, 2026)

added 1mo ago

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Delegate
Clemens Fuest
German economist, ifo Institute president

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votes For and says:

Europe controls only a fraction of the global AI infrastructure, but is a major user. While the United States accounts for about 75 percent of the world’s high-performance computing capacity for modern AI, and China about 15 percent, Europe lags far ...
more AI Verified source (Jun 19, 2026)

added 23d ago

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Delegate
Martin Merz
President of Sovereign Cloud at SAP SE, the parent company of Delos Cloud.

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votes For and says:

True sovereignty is built, not declared, and together, we are showing Europe exactly how it’s done.
AI Verified source (Jun 17, 2026)

added 19d ago

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Jean Coumaros
Chief Executive Officer of Bleu, a French trusted-cloud company.

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votes For and says:

Our AI infrastructure investment will allow sensitive organizations to access the most advanced AI capabilities, on their own terms under their own jurisdiction.
AI Verified source (Jun 17, 2026)

added 19d ago

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Delegate
Nikolaus Hagl
Chief Executive Officer of Delos Cloud GmbH, a German sovereign-cloud provider.

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votes For and says:

Germany and France are building the infrastructure that Europe needs to stay resilient, innovative, and in control of its own digital future.
AI Verified source (Jun 17, 2026)

added 19d ago

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Norbert Pohlmann
German information-security professor and co-author of a cookie-banner automation study.

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votes For and says:

Europe must build up its own capabilities for developing, operating and auditing powerful AI models.
AI Verified source (Jun 16, 2026)

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Adrian McDonald
EMEA President at Dell Technologies.

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votes For and says:

The foundations are in place. Now Europe must build to win.
AI Verified source (Jun 15, 2026)

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Christophe Grudler
French MEP (Renew Europe), Mouvement Démocrate; member of the European Parliament's ITRE committee on industry, research and energy

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votes For and says:

The United States is once again demonstrating what we Liberals and Democrats have warned about so many times since Trump entered into office; that the US holds a real 'kill-switch' over essential technologies and that they are more than willing to us...
more AI Verified source (Jun 15, 2026)

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Daniel Abbou
Managing director, German AI association

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votes For and says:

What we experienced yesterday is not a surprise, it is the reckoning for years of hesitation. The US government has proven what we have long been warning: AI is strategic infrastructure. Those who do not control it will be controlled by it. We do not...
more AI Verified source (Jun 14, 2026)

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Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe
Labour member of the UK House of Lords who has advocated for UK sovereign artificial-intelligence capability.

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votes For and says:

We rely too much on the USA’s big tech companies. I have long been an advocate of seeking to create our own UK sovereign AI entity.
AI Verified source (Jun 5, 2026)

added 20d ago

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Lord Raval
Labour member of the UK House of Lords who has argued for sovereign artificial-intelligence capability and democratic control over AI systems.

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votes For and says:

A nation reliant entirely on systems owned and governed elsewhere has accepted a strategic vulnerability.
AI Verified source (Jun 5, 2026)

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Rafal Rohozinski

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votes For and says:

Allies who do not build will be tenants, and the rent is going to rise, or the landlord may decide to end the lease altogether.
AI Verified source (Jun 4, 2026)

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Mark Carney
Prime Minister of Canada; former Governor of the Bank of England and Bank of Canada

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votes For and says:

We will expand sovereign compute and cloud infrastructure, reducing our reliance on foreign providers.
AI Verified source (Jun 4, 2026)

added 22d ago

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Marc Murtra
Executive Chairman of Telefónica.

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votes For and says:

Strategic autonomy is the relevant concept. No economy is completely independent, but Europe must strengthen its capabilities to reduce excessive dependencies in key technologies.
AI Verified source (Jun 3, 2026)

added 1d ago

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Delegate
Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission

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votes For and says:

We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure. This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the tale...
more AI Verified source (Jun 3, 2026)

added 19d ago

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Delegate
Connect Europe
European telecommunications association representing connectivity providers and advocating on cloud, AI, and digital-infrastructure policy.

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votes For and says:

Europe’s sovereign cloud ecosystem itself cannot flourish without robust, advanced and scalable connectivity, and sovereign telco technologies.
AI Verified source (Jun 3, 2026)

added 23d ago

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European Commission
EU's executive body

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votes For and says:

The cloud and AI development act will support research and innovation in cutting-edge and sustainable technologies, streamline conditions for deploying datacentres across the EU, and introduce a single EU-wide framework to assess cloud and AI soverei...
more AI Verified source (Jun 3, 2026)

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Abstain (0)

Against (8)

Christian Klein
CEO of SAP SE, Europe's largest software company

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votes Against and says:

Europe should prioritize “code over concrete.”
AI Verified source (Jun 25, 2026)

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Delegate
Tanya Nagrath
Policy Analyst at ITIF

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votes Against and says:

However, Europe’s primary economic challenge is its anemic tech-driven productivity growth, not its use of American technology. Embracing protectionism will do nothing to remedy this failure, nor will it miraculously create new European technology ch...
more AI Verified source (Jun 11, 2026)

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Mitchell Rutledge
Policy Manager at CCIA Europe, a technology-industry trade association.

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votes Against and says:

The EU’s ambition to triple data centre capacity is the right one. But the way to achieve that goal is by attracting investment, not shutting it out.
AI Verified source (Jun 3, 2026)

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Delegate
Daniel Friedlaender
Senior Vice President and Head of CCIA Europe (Computer & Communications Industry Association)

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votes Against and says:

The Cloud and AI Development Act is a direct recipe for fragmented discrimination across Europe in 27 different ways, not only in public procurement but potentially also across thousands of private critical entities, from banks to energy companies.
AI Verified source (Jun 3, 2026)

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