Overview
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron hosted EU digital ministers and more than 900 delegates in Berlin to accelerate plans for European cloud capacity, data centers and AI models.
- Germany’s Karsten Wildberger and France’s Anne Le Hénanff urged simpler EU requirements for AI, with Paris backing a one‑year delay for parts of the AI Act as the European Commission readies a broader digital rulemaking update on Wednesday.
- Concrete showcases included Germany’s openDesk and France’s La Suite as public‑sector alternatives to Microsoft and Google, alongside progress on the EU digital wallet slated for rollout from late 2026 to early 2027.
- Berlin and Paris signaled support for keeping critical data within the EU, expanding open‑source tools in administrations, easing intra‑EU data flows and launching a joint taskforce to coordinate these efforts.
- Industry groups pressed for less bureaucracy and faster investment to scale European tech, while experts cautioned that reducing reliance on U.S. providers will take sustained funding and time.