EU sets out plans to cut reliance on foreign tech firms

(Sharecast News) - The European Union on Wednesday set out plans to cut Europe's reliance on foreign technology providers, including strengthening semi-conductor, cloud computing and artificial intelligence capacity.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-member bloc could not afford to "depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure".

"This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices," she said in a statement.

A major part of the proposals centre around a planned Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), which aims to establish sovereignty standards for handling sensitive public-sector data.

The commission is also looking to strengthen the Chips Act, brought in two years ago to address critical vulnerabilities in the global semiconductor supply chain.

Admitting that Europe still relies heavily on third countries for advanced production and chip design, the commission said a "Chips Act 2.0" would "will build on Europe's strengths, including in mainstream chips, and build capacity in cutting-edge semiconductor technologies that power AI applications".

Minimum energy-efficiency standards for data centres are also planned amid growing concerns over their increased use of energy. The commission said it would develop minimum performance standards for both new and existing data centres.

"If not tackled at EU level now, these challenges could grow considerably and become harder to solve in the coming years, as the energy consumption of the sector is expected to increase further," the commission said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com