Overview
- Germany and France host up to 900 participants in Berlin on Tuesday, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron set to attend the inaugural European Summit on Digital Sovereignty.
- Officials and companies highlight legal exposure from reliance on U.S. cloud providers, citing the CLOUD Act and FISA 702 as mechanisms that can compel disclosure of data stored in Europe.
- The European Commission plans to present a Digital‑Omnibus on Wednesday that bundles and simplifies rules touching the GDPR, the AI Act, the Data Act and cybersecurity, with reported drafts loosening cookie consent and expanding ‘legitimate interest’.
- Startup associations urge concrete measures including a procurement preference for European tech, a pan‑EU capital market and a unified ‘28th regime’ legal form, while industry groups press for faster approvals and less overregulation.
- A coalition of civil‑society groups and several MEPs warn the Omnibus could weaken digital rights and privacy protections, criticize Germany’s strategy as too reliant on U.S. vendors, and call for the state to act as an anchor customer for European solutions.