Berlin became the center of Europe’s digital debate this week as heads of state, ministers, and industry leaders gathered for the European Digital Sovereignty Summit. It was a day defined by political symbolism, strategic announcements and a shared message: Europe is ready to take a more active role in shaping its digital future.
Wire CEO Benjamin Schilz attended the event alongside long-time partners, including Christophe Lesur, CEO of Cloud Temple, as France and Germany outlined their expectations for a more sovereign and resilient European technology ecosystem.
From the outset, France and Germany made it clear that digital sovereignty is no longer a theoretical policy objective. It is becoming a strategic imperative.
French President Emmanuel Macron set the tone with a firm push for European preference in public procurement, arguing that Europe cannot afford to be the only region that does not consistently buy its own digital infrastructure. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reinforced this emphasis, calling the EU’s upcoming regulatory "omnibus" package a “litmus test” for Europe’s seriousness about competitiveness.
Germany’s Federal Digital Minister, Karsten Wildberger, placed a strong emphasis on AI as a strategic capability that Europe must develop itself, not simply import. He framed AI not as a tool, but as an engine of economic resilience, provided Europe accelerates its capacity to innovate.
What emerged was a shared recognition that regulation alone cannot deliver sovereignty.
For Europe to gain real independence, it must build - cloud infrastructure, secure platforms, and applied AI systems - at scale and with European industrial participation.
One of the defining announcements of the Summit was a collective €12 billion in voluntary company commitments, driven primarily by partnerships in AI, cloud services and sovereign infrastructure.
Among these, the SAP × Mistral AI partnership stood out as a flagship example of cross-border European innovation designed to serve public administration and regulated sectors.
A broader list of Franco-German industrial collaborations was presented, spanning cybersecurity, defense, deep tech and advanced AI applications. These partnerships provided a glimpse of what a European tech industrial policy could look like in practice.
Although the Summit stopped short of announcing a new joint digital industrial project, the volume and diversity of these collaborations suggested a clear shift toward coordinated European capability-building.
If there was one message repeated throughout the day, it was the need to simplify and harmonize EU digital rules.
France and Germany both voiced support for postponing the AI Act’s “high-risk” obligations by 12 months not to weaken the legislation, but to improve its implementation and give companies time to adapt responsibly.
The European Commission introduced the idea of a “Digital Fitness Check,” a recurring mechanism intended to streamline overlapping regulations, reduce administrative burden and improve overall regulatory coherence. This aligns with broader efforts to consolidate data protection rules and introduce a risk-based approach to GDPR enforcement.
The underlying goal is simple:
A more competitive Europe needs a regulatory environment that supports - not slows down - innovation.
Another core theme was the pressure to reduce structural dependence on non-European hyperscalers.
Speakers emphasized:
Macron reinforced the political dimension of this shift, arguing that sovereignty must be measured not only in regulation but in real-world adoption, in the platforms that governments actually deploy and the technologies they choose to fund.
For partners like Cloud Temple, StackIT and others active in sovereign cloud development, the Summit underscored a growing political alignment behind the work they have championed for years.
The Summit was not about unveiling a single transformative framework. It was about setting direction.
Europe is signaling that it wants to take responsibility for its digital foundations - in AI, cloud, cybersecurity, identity, and data infrastructure. The ambition is clear. The next phase will be about implementation: building the platforms, operationalizing procurement preferences, and accelerating the adoption of secure, sovereign technologies.
As Benjamin Schilz summarized after the event,
“France and Germany showed huge ambition for Europe around tech. Europe is back.”
For companies like Wire, built in Europe, committed to transparency, and aligned with GDPR, NIS2 and EU digital sovereignty principles, this new momentum reinforces a long-term shift:
Europe is ready to invest in its own digital foundations.
The Summit in Berlin marks an important milestone in that journey.
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