EuroStack: Enough Contemplation, but also Enough Straw Mannerism

We also made clear that the version of EuroStack that we stand for (the “Industry Initiative”), is only an industrial policy mission – reversing at least somewhat the decline of Europe’s tech industry in the share of European tech consumption and innovation. For instance, the other old chestnut that we are all in it together, so we should trust US companies to be benevolent and treat us well because it’s in their interest: what we need to do is “optimis(e) for mutual interdependence, where both sides of the Atlantic have strong incentives to cooperate, and the cost of decoupling is too high for either to bear (emphasis added)” – Decoupling? The discussion of the role of public procurement is also disingenuous: no one is saying public procurement must shift 100% of public sector demand to European suppliers; but that digital purchases by the public sector each year are chunky, and redirecting a share of that spend towards European suppliers would be a major benefit to European industry. Finally, the geopolitical canard: “The idea that the US political leadership could suddenly force American tech companies to shut down services for European clients — the so-called ‘kill switch’ — is largely a doomsday scenario used for rhetorical effect. The stance is more subtle, more nuanced, less dogmatic; the goal is not to decouple from or extirpate US tech, but to reverse at least in part the decline of European industrial capabilities in digital, and create a larger role for European suppliers in serving European demand, with products that are attractive and competitive. A sprawling set of initiatives including the “EuroStack” is our original idea for a European Industrial Policy initiative bringing together tech, governance and funding for Europe-focused investment to build and adopt a suite of digital infrastructures: from connectivity to cloud computing, AI and digital platforms.