Europe Wrote the AI Rulebook. Can it Deliver on its Ambitions?

This piece is part of the "Ideas for Europe’s Future" series by Tech Policy Press. Read more about the series here.

Europe has only just finished writing the landmark AI Act and is rolling out its broader Apply AI Strategy, signaling its ambition to lead in values-based AI regulation and innovation. Yet some AI and Big Tech companies urge the EU to delay enforcement of the law, warning that “the EU may risk hampering AI innovation by placing heavy restrictions on companies.” With the new EU AI regulation in place, now is the time to start applying that framework. Not by giving in to American pressure to deregulate, but by insisting on the principles and values that Europe stands for.

Over the past years, Europe has developed a unique regulatory framework to stimulate innovation that is based on public values, enables digital sovereignty and enhances democracy. From the GDPR to the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, and more recently, the AI Act and the Data Act, these regulations form a powerful set of tools to address the abuse of algorithmic and data power, protect democratic institutions, and create room for competition and alternative infrastructures. Yes, there is room for improvement and some of the real challenges are in effective enforcement, but only by applying the rules consistently will Europe be able to improve them and give them teeth.

The urgency of applying the EU digital regulatory framework becomes even more apparent now that the European Commission has published its Apply AI Strategy, as part of the AI Continent Action Plan. The Apply AI strategy encourages an “AI First” strategy for a number of strategic sectors to stimulate the European AI industry—from healthcare, mobility, and transport, to agriculture, security and media—and thereby enhance European technological sovereignty. The strategy conveys a simple but crucial realization: without demand for AI products and services made in Europe, there will be no technological sovereignty.

Another equally simple but compelling truth has yet to be fully realized on Europe’s path to sovereignty: regulation —meaning smart, effective regulation, not mere bureaucracy —is essential to enable demand and to make the European Apply AI Strategy succeed.

This is the case for at least three reasons. First, for farmers, doctors, media professionals and other deployers of AI products and services, a solid regulatory framework increases trust and reduces significant search costs for reliable and safe AI. Second, a solid regulatory framework reduces legal risks for investors. Third, it can take away consumers’ concerns. Consumers expect their governments to adopt effective regulation and prioritize their welfare and security above innovation at a breakneck speed.

If Europe wants to deliver on its ambitions of technological sovereignty, it is crucial to resist pressure from the (US) AI tech industry to deregulate, simplify and abolish the rules Europe adopted to protect its digital sovereignty in the first place. In other words, ‘yes’ to simplification of bureaucracy, and a clear ‘no’ to lowering the level of protection for citizens and deployers of AI. But upholding Europe’s commitment to protecting fundamental rights and European values is important for another reason.

While Apple “demands” the EU to replace the DMA with “more suitable regulation,” Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is “going to work with United States President Donald Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies,” and Elon Musk from X describes DSA enforcement proceedings as an “illegal secret deal.” Combined with the pressure from leading US tech companies urging the EU to pause the AI Act, it becomes clear that Europe’s technological sovereignty is not the only thing at stake. What is really at stake is Europe’s democratic sovereignty in the sense of its ability to determine the rules, values and vision for the future of the algorithmic European society. Not Zuckerberg’s vision, not Altman’s vision, and certainly not Trump’s vision.

Right now, the same technology companies Europeans critically depend on in their daily lives use their leverage to openly challenge rules that are the product of democratic decision-making in the EU. Europe’s push to apply more AI could result in more technological sovereignty - or further deepen those dependencies if there are no sufficient European alternatives. But even replacing a US hyperscaler with a European hyperscaler will not bring us an inch—or centimeter —closer to democratic sovereignty.

Democratic digital sovereignty is not, as Microsoft and Amazon try to sell Europe, simply about data sovereignty and the ability to store data in Europe. Democratic digital sovereignty is also not – as the AI Continent Action plan and the Apply AI Strategy suggest – about simply prioritizing Big Tech made in Europe, instead of Big Tech made in the US. Ultimately, democratic digital sovereignty is about democratic resilience and the ability to tackle the concentration of technological, economic and political power in the hands of a few technology companies that prioritize profit and technological dominance over public values. This is at the heart of the problem.

Concretely, this means prioritizing not only AI made in Europe, but based on European democratic values: adhering to open protocols, interoperability standards, green energy and reducing the ecological footprint, as well as technology providers that approach European values not merely as a problem of risk mitigation, but as a commitment to do better and advance fundamental rights. Democratic digital sovereignty means concentrating not only on boosting innovation but also on making sure the institutions and businesses using AI are prepared to apply AI in a just and fair manner, including the decision not to apply AI. Democratic digital sovereignty means not to innovate over the heads of citizens but to prioritize participatory processes and the rights of citizens to contest. Even if this raises costs in the short term, it will pay off in the long run. Democratic digital sovereignty means strengthening Europe’s capacity to govern, through reducing the dependency of our own governments and regulators on the technologies that they are meant to regulate and strengthening the capacity of accountability actors like investigative journalists, fact checkers, citizens, civil society and academics. In other words, what Europe needs to deliver on its ambition truly is a complementary Continental AI Democracy Action plan to strengthen its institutional capacities to govern and enforce existing frameworks, while incentivizing societal innovation.

Europe’s digital dependency is not a force of nature but the result of past strategic choices. It is time to say goodbye to convenience and uphold principles. Europe is truly sovereign only when it can make autonomous choices. Democratic digital sovereignty is not an empty one-liner; it is a commitment to Europe’s democratic future.