Europe’s leading digitalising and technology companies support the European Commission in its effort to complete the single market and make bold, scalable EU investments. Over three dozen CEOs confirmed their support in Thursday’s followup statement to their AI&Tech Declaration.
In her State of the European Union Strasbourg address, President Ursula von der Leyen endorsed the AI & Tech Declaration, signed by 41 European CEOs. Their joint commitment shows industry support for Ms von der Leyen and her Commission. The Union’s executive arm accelerates Europe’s security, competitiveness, regulatory simplification, and unlocks large-scale European co-investments in areas where digital will drive competitiveness and security — from energy optimisation to safe connectivity, drone technology, and satellite.
Concrete measures on the way
The CEOs arranged a meeting with Ms von der Leyen to present her with their concrete recommendations on investment priorities and simplification measures, said DigitalEurope in a LinkedIn post. The measures are to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty, competitiveness, and security. DigitalEurope is a the trade association that represents European digital technology industry; Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, the association’s director general, was among the CEOs mentioned.
DigitalEurope also welcomed the announcement of the Competitiveness Fund, the Scale-up Europe Fund, and the progress on the SAFE initiative. The association also praised the EU’s steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine and driving transatlantic relations and stability. In the LinkedIn post, it thanked President von der Leyen for the opportunity to meet and stand ready to empower her vision for the benefit of European businesses and society.
We, as industry leaders, stand ready to invest in Europe’s digital future, spearhead our security, and drive our digital and green transformation. — AI&Tech Declaration
“We, as CEOs of Europe’s leading digitalising and technology companies, support the direction set by the European Commission to complete the single market and make bold, scalable EU investments,“ The AI&Tech Declaration reads. “Now, one year after the Draghi report, we call for an ambitious new partnership between public and private stakeholders to restore Europe’s global competitiveness and security.“
A 50-year, €800bn gap
The document calls for decisive action and “results in the next one to three years“. The evidence is stark. Between 2008-2021, close to 30 per cent of European ‘unicorns’ relocated headquarters, primarily to the US. The declaration cites more unfavourable statistics. Europe faces a €800bn annual investment gap and has not seen a new €100bn company in the 50 years.
“We, as industry leaders, stand ready to invest in Europe’s digital future, spearhead our security, and drive our digital and green transformation,“ the CEOs say in the document. “Let us make Europe the place to innovate and scale, providing the enabling conditions for our companies. This is Europe’s AI and tech moment. Let us act together. We scale – we lead – we succeed in Europe.“
