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EuroStack Project Endorses Open Letter Calling for Urgent Action on European Digital Sovereignty

2025-03-17

The EuroStack Project endorses the Open Letter: European Industry Calls for Strong Commitment to Sovereign Digital Infrastructure, released on March 17, 2025, and addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen. This letter, signed by a broad coalition of over 100 European businesses, associations, and organizations (including prominent names like Airbus, Dassault Systèmes, and many others), represents a powerful and unified call for immediate, concrete action to secure Europe's digital future. We are proud to see that many of the signatories are also listed in the EuroStack Directory.

As advocates for a truly sovereign European digital ecosystem, built upon Open Source principles and enforceable interoperability, we at the EuroStack Project see a profound alignment between the Open Letter's core message and our own vision. The letter's urgent tone, its emphasis on industry leadership, and its call for a pragmatic, results-oriented industrial policy resonate deeply with our own analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing Europe.

The Open Letter correctly identifies the "stark geopolitical reality" and the "urgent imperative" of building strategic autonomy in the digital realm. It highlights Europe's current multiple dependencies on non-European technologies across all layers of the digital stack – from hardware and infrastructure to software and platforms. This dependence, as we've consistently argued, creates significant security and reliability risks, compromises our sovereignty, and hinders our economic growth.

The Open Letter's call for "radical action" is not hyperbole; it's a recognition of the scale and urgency of the challenge. We cannot afford to continue down a path of incremental adjustments and half-measures. We cannot simply "regulate ourselves out of our laggard position," as the letter states. We need a bold, proactive industrial policy that leverages Europe's existing strengths – its talent, its innovative SMEs, and its vibrant Open Source community – to build a truly independent digital infrastructure.

Key Alignments with the EuroStack Project's Vision

The Open Letter's recommendations align with many of the core principles and concrete actions outlined in the EuroStack Project's position paper on the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, EuroStack Project's Response to the Call for Evidence "2025 Strategic Foresight Report", EuroStack's Response to the Call for Evidence - Single Market Strategy for 2025, and other contributions by the EuroStack Project to European policy. Specifically, we strongly support:

  • "Buy European": The call for a formal requirement for the public sector to "Buy European" – sourcing their digital needs from European-led and assembled solutions – is a crucial step. This aligns directly with our advocacy for strategic public procurement that prioritizes European Open Source solutions and empowers European SMEs.
  • "Pooling and Federating" Existing Assets: The letter's emphasis on leveraging existing European assets and solutions, rather than trying to build everything from scratch, is a pragmatic and efficient approach. This is precisely the philosophy behind the EuroStack Directory Project, which aims to catalog and promote the wealth of existing European Open Source technologies and cloud services.
  • Open Source as a Pillar: The recognition that "openness" (open science, standards, data) should be a pillar of Europe's digital sovereignty strategy is fundamental. Open source, with its inherent transparency, flexibility, and collaborative nature, is the only way to ensure that Europe controls its digital destiny.
  • Industry Leadership: The letter's emphasis on an "industry-led effort" is crucial. While government support and policy frameworks are essential, the drive for digital sovereignty must come from the European tech sector itself.
  • Focus on Measurable Results: The call for prioritizing services with strong adoption prospects and measuring results in terms of business outcomes is essential. This ensures that investments are targeted and effective.
  • Harmonized requirements: The open letter correctly calls for a certification scheme.

A Call to Action: From Words to Deeds

The Open Letter is a powerful statement of intent, but it must be followed by concrete action. We urge the European Commission to:

  1. Immediately convene the working groups called for in the letter, ensuring broad representation from European SMEs, Open Source projects, and civil society organizations.
  2. Translate the letter's recommendations into concrete policy proposals, including amendments to public procurement directives, targeted funding mechanisms, and legally binding requirements for interoperability.
  3. Prioritize the development and adoption of a truly European, Open Source-based cloud infrastructure, rejecting the flawed approaches of the past and embracing a bottom-up, SME-driven approach.
  4. Invest in digital skills and education, focusing on Open Source technologies and fostering a culture of digital literacy and self-reliance.
  5. Engage in a transparent and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that Europe's digital strategy reflects the needs and aspirations of its citizens and businesses.

The EuroStack Project, alongside our partners in CNLL, APELL, and the broader European Open Source ecosystem, stands ready to contribute our expertise and resources to this critical effort. We believe that Europe has the potential to be a global leader in digital innovation, but only if we embrace a bold vision of digital sovereignty, built upon the principles of openness, collaboration, and European control. The time for half-measures is over. It's time to build a truly independent and resilient European digital future.

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