The European Union has officially unveiled a comprehensive strategy aimed at reducing its critical dependence on American technology. Brussels has concluded that the dominance of US corporations poses a real threat to the European economy and geopolitical security. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine citing The New York Times.
The Threat of an 'Emergency Switch'
Against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the Donald Trump administration, EU leaders fear that Washington may use technological superiority as a lever of pressure. Key sectors are at risk: artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and semiconductor manufacturing. Experts call this scenario an 'emergency switch' capable of blocking access to critical services at any moment.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clearly outlined the bloc's position: 'We cannot afford to rely on others for technologies that keep our hospitals running, our power grids stable, and our services secure.'
US Response: Threat of Sanctions
Brussels' plan to intervene in the market and accelerate the construction of its own data centers has triggered a harsh reaction from Washington. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has already threatened Europe with sanctions, viewing the push for digital sovereignty as discrimination. The US Computer and Communications Industry Association stated that such measures limit consumer choice.
Diplomatic pressure is intensifying: Donald Trump demands that a trade agreement with the EU be finalized by July 4. This puts the European Parliament under pressure to vote on the technology package in mid-June to avoid derailing negotiations.
Structure of Dependence and New Players
Today, Europe finds itself in a difficult situation: on one side is the technological might of the US, and on the other, the manufacturing power of China. Dependence on imports is colossal: more than 80% of digital products, services, and infrastructure in the EU are foreign. The cloud computing market is monopolized by Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, while in the field of artificial intelligence, OpenAI and Anthropic from Silicon Valley lead. In just the first three months of this year alone, the trade deficit with China amounted to €145 billion.
However, changes have already begun. The EU Parliament took a symbolic step by officially abandoning the Google search engine in favor of the French service Qwant. The new policy aims to support European giants such as German SAP or French Mistral. France is already offering investors cheap nuclear energy to build data centers.
Tech Boom and the Labor Market
On a global scale, the technological race is gaining momentum. Elon Musk plans to launch thousands of satellites to create orbital data centers for AI, although experts are skeptical about the project's success, accusing the billionaire of hype ahead of SpaceX's IPO. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is being integrated into the banking system, gaining access to user accounts to analyze spending and provide financial advice.
Against the backdrop of global shifts, the local labor market is facing difficulties. In Ukraine, one in six IT specialists (17% of the total) lost their jobs in the last year.