The European Commission is focusing on simplifying rules in the digital sector, but Europe needs structural reform grounded in deregulation and harmonization across the single market. The EU lacks strategic direction and steps toward a more ambitious goal: a continent capable of acting on its own terms.
For too long, European infrastructure has been addressed in fragments. Energy policy lives in one silo, digital in another, research and transport in yet separate domains, with security and scalability treated as an afterthought.
The challenge is not any one sphere in isolation, but the failure to recognize them as a single, interdependent system capable of strengthening Europe's autonomy.
A sovereign European AI champion without European cloud infrastructure is a contradiction. A data center without secure, reliable energy is a liability. A semiconductor facility without seamless connectivity becomes a bottleneck.
This article is part of The Parliament's special policy report "Infrastructure for a connected Europe."
Enhancing the Digital Omnibus
This perspective must shape the upcoming Digital Omnibus, the legislative package proposed by the Commission to harmonize European digital rules. Simplification is not about diluting data protection or weakening security and privacy, but about making rules work — cutting duplication and clarifying obligations.
This means turning dense legislation into rules that businesses and researchers can implement, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, which remain central to European innovation but are often saddled with overlapping compliance requirements.
A regulation that cannot be applied in practice is not a safeguard but a burden that Europe’s global competitors do not carry.
The European Union has earned its reputation as the world's regulatory powerhouse. Regulation without industrial capacity, innovation and companies able to scale is an unsustainable strategy. For years, Europe has written the rules for technologies it did not build while relying on infrastructure it does not control. That is not a sustainable position.
The lack of interconnection between Europe's strategic sectors has become a security liability.
Artificial intelligence is not just about data — it is about energy and capital. Training and deploying AI systems requires significant computational power and, with it, substantial electricity demand.
If Europe is serious about sovereign AI capability, it must invest in the infrastructure to support it: accelerating renewables, developing next-generation solutions such as small modular reactors and redesigning electricity grids to meet future computational demand.
The same logic applies to capital. If member states resist the integration required to make EU capital markets function effectively, European companies will continue to scale elsewhere.
Europe does not need to win the general-purpose AI race. That contest is already set on terms that disadvantage latecomers.
A more viable path lies in specialized AI — models purpose-built for industrial applications, healthcare diagnostics, legal analysis and scientific research. This strategy can succeed if sustained by procurement frameworks and public investment that allow European providers to compete on merit. European companies such as Robovision, Syntho and Noxtua already show that this approach can deliver.
A new strategy
Control in the digital economy is equally critical. The EU's largest banks process transactions via American cloud providers, while European hospitals store patient data on servers subject to U.S. surveillance laws. Europe's citizens and businesses should not depend on critical infrastructure governed by terms set elsewhere. They need systems designed to serve their interests.
This requires enforceable commitments on data localization, interoperability and fair access, along with procurement policies that strengthen Europe's ecosystem. The Commission must use its full range of tools to ensure genuine reciprocity from third countries seeking access to the European market.
Europe has the talent, research, regulatory experience and an established industrial base. What has been missing is the political will to harmonize the European market and recognize critical infrastructure as a single strategic system.
The Digital Omnibus is a political choice about what kind of economy Europe will have over the next decade — and who will shape it.
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