Merz and Macron vow to fight for Europe's digital "sovereignty"

2025-11-18 20:57:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to help Europe catch up in the artificial intelligence race and free the continent from its heavy dependence on American tech giants.

Speaking at a summit in Berlin attended by regional technology companies, the leaders of Europe's two largest economies also pledged on November 18 to ease rules for the digital sector, rules that many companies complain are holding them back from making progress.

"Europe does not want to be a client of big entrepreneurs or of big solutions offered by the US or China. We want to create our own solutions," Macron said, adding that this stance represented "a refusal to be a vassal."

Merz called for Europe to "join forces and create its own digital path, and this path must lead to digital sovereignty."

"Digital sovereignty has costs, but the costs of digital addiction are even higher," said the German chancellor.

Merz said companies are pledging to invest 12 billion euros in Europe's digital future, but did not provide further details.

Europe is responding to calls to create its own digital path as concerns grow about US technological dominance, at a time when relations with Washington are increasingly complicated under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Despite US-Europe tensions, a senior French presidency official said earlier that the summit was not about "confrontation" with the US or even China, but about defending "our essential sovereignty."

Merz called for "better conditions for digital innovation, which means we need a radical simplification of our practices in terms of regulations."

Macron conveyed the same message.

"Over the past few years we have prioritized the regulation of our domestic actors. And that's what we need to change. We need to have innovation then regulation."

The leaders' calls came a day before the EU proposed easing rules on artificial intelligence and data protection, a move welcomed by businesses but criticized by privacy activists.

Macron also called for European technology companies to be given priority during tenders, especially by the public sector./Rel