Beltug and sister CIO organisations Cigref (France), VOICE (Germany) and CIO Platform Nederland (the Netherlands) have sent a joint letter to the European Commission sharing their views and concerns regarding the new Cloud and AI Development Act. Together, our associations represent a wide range of European companies and public organisations that use digital technologies and cloud services.
23 / 09 / 25
The letter stresses the pressing need for Europe to (re)gain control of its digital infrastructure. European companies and public organisations remain deeply dependent on US cloud providers. While cloud infrastructure has become the backbone of the digital economy, this dependency results in significant value creation being lost for Europe and almost no tax contributions within the EU.
Our organisations strongly support the Eurostack initiative, which champions the development of sovereign European cloud and AI capacity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a cornerstone of this vision, with transformative potential across sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, energy, and public services.
With 70% of foundational AI models developed in the United States, while China is rapidly increasing its share, Europe must focus on building sovereign AI ecosystems. These should include sovereign AI platforms and federated data spaces to protect intellectual property, reduce foreign dependency, and align with European values of transparency, accountability, and privacy.
While we welcome the Act, we specify in the letter that further measures are essential:
The cloud and AI environment will shape the future of Europe’s economy. To achieve strategic resilience, Europe must power its own digital industry. This requires a concerted effort from the European Commission, the Member States, and European business users and providers of digital technologies. We stand ready to contribute to this dialogue and to work together towards a secure, sovereign and innovative digital Europe.