These past days I took part in POLITICO's European Resilience Summit in Brussels, in a debate on Europe's digital autonomy. My position was clear: Europe is making progress, but it needs to move faster. Technology is not going to wait for us to finish our institutional discussions.
Europe has the talent, the research capacity and the technological capabilities. But turning that potential into a genuinely competitive industry requires applicable rules, investment and infrastructure. That is what we discussed on the panel «Europe's digital autonomy: Can the bloc scale its tech stack?».
CADA must offer certainty to those who invest
As part of the work on the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), I defend one central idea: we must give certainty to those who invest. That means simplifying procedures, speeding up permits and finally addressing the energy challenge that conditions the deployment of data centres. I am willing to reach agreements quickly, because industry cannot wait years for Europe to make up its mind.
Technological sovereignty does not mean isolation
Europe must develop its own capabilities, but it must also cooperate with trusted international technology partners. The goal is to reduce dependencies without closing ourselves off from the world. Sovereignty is not about isolating ourselves: it is about expanding our capacity to decide when it really matters.
Diego Solier during the panel «Europe's digital autonomy: Can the bloc scale its tech stack?» at POLITICO's European Resilience Summit in Brussels
Not every service needs the same level of protection
We must classify data and services according to their criticality. An incident in the management system of a municipal swimming pool is not the same as the failure of an entire city's traffic-light network: the impact is completely different. That is why we need a proportionate approach, one that reserves the most demanding safeguards for what is truly essential.
Laws cannot contradict one another
We are working at the same time on CADA, on the Cybersecurity Act 2 and on the Digital Omnibus. These files are connected to one another, and that is why we need coherence between all of them and balance between the institutions. Laws cannot contradict each other: they must build a common, predictable and workable framework.
My priority is for investment to stay and grow in Europe. Digital autonomy is not declared: it is built by making technology, industry and investment thrive here.
