Sovereign legal AI Noxtua moves onto Deutsche Telekom's Industrial AI Cloud
German legal AI firm Noxtua, backed by a EUR 81 million round from C.H.BECK, CMS and Dentons, moved its sovereign Legal AI onto Deutsche Telekom's Industrial AI Cloud and AI Factory in Munich, drawing GPU capacity under EU data protection rules.
EIB Group lifts Defence Equity Facility target to EUR 1 billion
EIB Group Boards endorsed lifting the Defence Equity Facility to a EUR 1 billion target for pan-European defence, space and cyber funds, and set the European Tech Champions Initiative on course for EUR 15 billion to mobilise EUR 80 billion in scaleup capital.
CEPA's Bologa says Chinese cloud and telecom ties bind the Western Balkans
CEPA's Anda Bologa writes that Chinese loans, telecoms, surveillance and cloud infrastructure deals across the Western Balkans, including a Montenegro university's tie to a sanctioned Jinan supercomputing centre, lock in vendors and complicate EU accession.
Germany's EUR 10 billion satellite plan stirs EU fragmentation fears
Germany is planning a EUR 10 billion, roughly 100 satellite national military LEO constellation with Rheinmetall, OHB and Airbus, separate from the EU's EUR 10.6 billion IRIS2, prompting EU lawmakers to warn of fragmentation.
Ericsson and Julich sign MoU to develop AI for 6G using JUPITER
Sweden's Ericsson and Germany's Forschungszentrum Julich signed a memorandum to jointly develop AI and high performance computing methods for 6G, using Julich's JUPITER exascale supercomputer for training and prototyping.
Fraunhofer prints multi-metal rocket valve with ArianeGroup input
Fraunhofer IGCV printed a multi material rocket valve demonstrator combining magnetic and non magnetic steel in one build, under the EUR 38 million EU funded Enlighten project, with ArianeGroup supplying integration requirements for future launchers.
Zayo Europe to connect Blackstone's QTS Cambois AI campus in Northumberland
Zayo Europe will build four fibre routes into Blackstone owned QTS's multi billion pound Cambois AI data centre campus in Northumberland, designed for up to 720 megawatts of AI ready capacity.
Cloudberry Ventures launches EUR 50 million European deeptech fund
London-based Cloudberry Ventures, founded by ex-Google Moonshot X advisor Mahir Sahin, launched a EUR 50 million fund backing European seed to Series A deeptech infrastructure, spanning compute, photonics and industrial hardware.
CCIA report says EU Space Act could cost Europe up to EUR 52 billion a year
CCIA Research Center, with LAMA Economic Research, says the draft EU Space Act could raise LEO satellite manufacturing costs by 10 to 46 percent and cut EU GDP by up to EUR 52 billion a year through 2030.
EU says EUR 140 million European Launcher Challenge funding at risk of lapsing
SpaceNews reported that EUR 140 million ESA member states pledged to the European Launcher Challenge remains unallocated and at risk of lapsing, including EUR 34.9 million earmarked for bankrupt British challenger Orbex, with no replacement mechanism yet set.
DigitalEurope calls for narrower Critical Raw Materials Act obligations
DigitalEurope argued the Commission's proposed Critical Raw Materials Act amendments are disproportionate, urging a 0.2 kilogram threshold on supply chain mapping, flexible mitigation timelines and no new labelling mandates for industry.
Vincorion lists on Frankfurt Stock Exchange, valued at EUR 850 million
German defence electronics maker Vincorion listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 20 March 2026 at EUR 17.00 a share, a EUR 345 million secondary sale by owner STAR Capital valuing the company at EUR 850 million.
CEPA's Hidalgo Martinez: US pressure is making Europe less compliant, not more
CEPA's Natalia Hidalgo Martinez argues US pressure for higher defence spending is making Europe more autonomous, citing Germany's rise to the world's fourth largest military budget at USD 107 billion and Denmark's pick of SAMP/T over Patriot.
CEPA's Bukowski examines splits over EU's Made in Europe manufacturing rule
CEPA's Maciej Bukowski examines the Commission's Industrial Accelerator Act and its 20 percent manufacturing GDP target for 2035, noting Nordic and German pushback for "Made with Europe" wording instead.
France's top court upholds Microsoft hosting of health data study
France's Conseil d'Etat rejected challenges to a CNIL authorisation for a 10 million person health data study hosted on Microsoft Azure, ruling the US CLOUD Act access risk acceptable given safeguards and no transfer to the United States.
Telefonica Tech adds three Spanish firms to its quantum ecosystem
Telefonica Tech added Spanish quantum firms Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, QCentroid and Multiverse Computing to its quantum ecosystem, building a combined hardware, software and orchestration offering alongside existing partners IBM and IQM.
Polish Sejm Speaker blocks Nawrocki's rival SAFE zero percent fund bill
Sejm Speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty refused to register President Nawrocki's rival Polish Defence Investment Fund bill (SAFE zero percent, funded from central bank profits), citing a breach of Article 221 of the constitution and no verified funding source.
ECB picks OVHcloud and Scaleway as EU-only cloud backers for digital euro tender
OVHcloud and Scaleway were named EU-only cloud subcontractors to Senacor Technologies, the ECB's first-ranked tenderer for the digital euro's Secure Exchange of Payment Information system, with AWS, Microsoft and Google barred from bidding.
Swissto12 opens Switzerland's largest satellite integration facility
Swissto12 opened a new 1,000 square metre satellite integration cleanroom in Renens, funded through a EUR 73 million ESA HummingSat programme investment, adding domestic capacity to build small geostationary satellites.
SAP launches sovereign cloud in France with Bleu
SAP began deploying its sovereign cloud in France on Bleu, the Capgemini and Orange venture, targeting ANSSI's SecNumCloud qualification for public sector and regulated industry workloads shielded from non-European extraterritorial law.
Germany selects 38 projects for chipmaking IPCEI, over EUR 3 billion
Germany selected 38 semiconductor projects from twelve federal states for the IPCEI on Advanced Semiconductor Technologies, committing more than EUR 3 billion as EU coordinator, spanning chip design through production.
Alpine Eagle scales up counter drone interceptor production near Munich
Alpine Eagle is building a 2,000 square metre interceptor plant near Munich, growing headcount from 12 to a planned 100 by year end, and signed three new European customers beyond its German Bundeswehr launch buyer, plus UK and Dutch expansion.
Spain agrees EUR 1 billion SAFE funded military aid and joint output with Ukraine
President Zelensky and Prime Minister Sanchez confirmed Spain's EUR 1 billion 2026 military aid package for Ukraine, part funded by the EU's SAFE instrument, as Sener Aerospace signed joint missile and air defence production deals with Ukrainian firms.
Swiss startup Rhonexum raises USD 1 million for cryogenic quantum chip electronics
Lausanne based Rhonexum, an EPFL AQUA Lab spinout, raised USD 1 million in pre-seed funding led by Dutch fund QDNL Participations plus Venture Kick and Swiss grants, to build cryogenic electronics that sit inside quantum computers' cold chambers.
Reply joins Mistral Forge to build sovereign AI models for Europe
Italy's Reply became a launch partner of Mistral AI's Forge programme to build sovereign, customisable large language models on European infrastructure for regulated sectors, with a first named project building a Greek language model with Austria's Academy of Sciences.
Germany's IT Planning Council agrees common Deutschland-Stack platform core
Germany's IT-Planungsrat, uniting the federal government and the Länder, agreed a common Deutschland-Stack platform core and initial portfolio: binding shared services for identification, data exchange, retrieval, payment and notification across administrative levels.
CCIA says UK keeps world's worst AI copyright regime by shelving reform
Responding to the UK's decision to shelve AI copyright reform, CCIA's Matthew Sinclair said Britain keeps "the worst copyright regime for AI training of any major economy" against Japan, the EU and the United States, and urged a fresh compromise.
CCIA-backed study says DMA drained European startup funding, not a Kill Zone
A CCIA Research Center study of 2,276 European venture-backed firms found no rise in EU IPOs since the Digital Markets Act and a 37 percent fall in venture funding from 2022 to 2024, leading chief economist Trevor Wagener to call the "Kill Zone" rationale a myth.
CCIA Europe urges swift deal after Parliament sets AI Omnibus position
After Parliament's IMCO and LIBE committees adopted their AI Omnibus negotiating mandate, CCIA Europe urged trilogue negotiators to set a 12 month grace period for generative AI marking and labelling to avoid legal uncertainty for firms.
UK government drops AI copyright reform, keeps status quo pending evidence
The UK government published its Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, dropping its favoured broad text and data mining exception with opt-out and choosing to gather more evidence rather than legislate, minister Liz Kendall told Parliament.
Parliament committees adopt negotiating position on AI Act simplification
Parliament's IMCO and LIBE committees adopted, 101 votes to 9 with 8 abstentions, a negotiating mandate on the AI Act Omnibus, fixing high-risk AI obligations to 2 December 2027 and 2 August 2028 and shortening the watermarking grace period.
UK finalises rules on reporting incidents at critical tech suppliers
The Bank of England, PRA and FCA published final rules requiring UK financial firms to report operational incidents and register material third party arrangements, including cloud and tech suppliers, with compliance due by 18 March 2027.
Leonardo completes EUR 1.7 billion acquisition of Iveco's defence vehicles unit
Leonardo closed its EUR 1.7 billion purchase of Iveco Group's defence arm (Iveco Defence Vehicles and ASTRA, EUR 1,368 million in 2025 revenue), consolidating armoured and military vehicle production under the Italian prime.
Germany makes Open Document Format binding standard for federal IT
Germany's IT Planungsrat declared the Open Document Format and PDF/UA the binding format standards for new Deutschland Stack government IT solutions, sidelining proprietary formats such as Microsoft's in future federal and state systems.
Germany's cabinet adopts first national data centre strategy
Germany's federal cabinet adopted its first national Data Centre Strategy, targeting a doubling of data centre connection capacity and a quadrupling of AI and high performance computing capacity by 2030 across 28 measures, with no funding figure disclosed.
UK, Finland and Netherlands to explore joint defence financing mechanism
The UK, Finland and the Netherlands issued a joint statement saying they will explore a new treaty-based mechanism, modelled on the EIB, by 2027 to pool demand and speed up joint defence procurement, with contributions weighted by GDP share and open to other partners.
Germany's KRITIS-Dachgesetz critical infrastructure law enters into force
Germany's KRITIS-Dachgesetz, transposing the EU's Critical Entities Resilience Directive, was promulgated on 16 March 2026 and entered into force the next day, creating the first federal legal framework for the physical protection of critical infrastructure operators.
EU Commission delays flagship tech sovereignty package to April
The European Commission postponed its flagship Tech Sovereignty Package, covering the Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act 2.0, pushing the target date from 25 March to 15 April 2026; reporting linked the delay to US pressure over trade compatibility.
EU Commission opens EUR 200 million call for submarine cable infrastructure
The European Commission opened two Connecting Europe Facility calls worth EUR 200 million, EUR 180 million for backbone upgrades on the 13 priority submarine cable routes and EUR 20 million for smart cable monitoring.
Diehl Defence and Latvian firm agree MoU for Baltic air defence hub
Diehl Defence signed a memorandum of understanding with Latvia's Ripo Remonta Centrs to form a joint venture running a Baltic maintenance and repair hub for its IRIS-T SLM systems, serving Latvia, Estonia and German units in Lithuania.
EuroStack urges German leaders to resist hyperscaler alliance, build sovereign stack
EuroStack's open letter told German leadership that a new alliance between domestic industry and hyperscalers must not undermine Buy European efforts, urging sovereign tech infrastructure built through industrial leadership rather than AI alone.
CISPE-led cloud CEOs urge EU to block sovereignty washing in Cloud AI Act
CEOs of 25 European cloud providers, led by CISPE, wrote to Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen urging that the Cloud and AI Development Act require EU control of data and infrastructure and a Buy European procurement principle, warning against sovereignty washing.
EDRi says Council draft strips worst GDPR and ePrivacy cuts, risks remain
EDRi assessed the Council's first Digital Omnibus compromise and found damaging changes to the GDPR's personal data definition, scientific research rules and Article 22 dropped, though AI development and terminal equipment provisions remain unresolved.
CEPA chief Polyakova proposes a 'Pax Silica' coalition to meet China's tech push
CEPA chief executive Alina Polyakova writes that neither Washington nor Europe can outcompete China's tech drive alone, citing China's lead in 57 of 64 critical technology categories, and proposes a Pax Silica coalition to secure the silicon supply chain.
UK Chancellor announces GBP 500 million Sovereign AI Fund for British AI firms
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a GBP 500 million Sovereign AI Fund, a venture vehicle offering capital and compute access to early and growth stage British AI companies, part of a wider GBP 2.5 billion package due to launch in April.
UK commits up to GBP 2 billion to quantum computing under ProQure
The UK government announced up to GBP 2 billion for quantum computing, including a GBP 1 billion ProQure procurement programme to buy commercial-scale quantum computers, aiming to deploy them at scale by the early 2030s.
Poland contracts EUR 3.5 billion 'San' anti-drone system on SAFE loan money
Poland confirmed it will fund its EUR 3.5 billion 'San' anti-drone system, already contracted to a Polish-Norwegian consortium, from SAFE loans; the European Commission said it was ready to release a EUR 6.5 billion pre-financing tranche in April.
French owned Alcatel Submarine Networks halts 2Africa cable work on Gulf leg
Alcatel Submarine Networks, now majority owned by the French state, invoked force majeure and halted cable laying on the Persian Gulf leg of the 2Africa system after regional conflict left its vessel stranded at Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
CEPA's Berlin urges the West to copy Ukraine's private sector air defence model
CEPA's Derek Berlin urges the West to copy Ukraine's programme letting private firms finance and deploy air defences at ports and power stations, citing European airport shutdowns from drone sightings as proof of fragile infrastructure.
Isar Aerospace wins launch contract from Astroscale's UK subsidiary
German launch firm Isar Aerospace signed a launch services agreement with Astroscale's UK arm to fly its ELSA-M debris-removal spacecraft from Andoya Space in Norway aboard Isar's Spectrum rocket, targeted for 2028; contract value undisclosed.
EuroHPC signs EUR 55 million contract for AI supercomputer HammerHAI
EuroHPC JU signed a EUR 55 million contract with HPE to deploy the AI-optimised supercomputer HammerHAI at HLRS Stuttgart, split evenly between EU Digital Europe Programme funds and German federal and state funds.
UK and Ireland agree bilateral framework on subsea cable incident response
At their Cork summit, the UK and Ireland agreed a Subsea Infrastructure Bilateral Collaboration Framework for information sharing and coordinated response to cable incidents, with the first live readiness exercise due in September 2026.
Poland's government moves to draw EUR 44 billion SAFE loan despite veto
Poland's Council of Ministers resolved to draw the EUR 44 billion SAFE defence loan despite President Nawrocki's veto, routing funds via BGK and the Armed Forces Support Fund; signing with the Commission would release an immediate EUR 6.6 billion tranche, ministers said.
ECIPE says Europe's competitiveness crisis is a tech investment problem
ECIPE's Fredrik Erixon and Oscar Guinea argue Europe's competitiveness gap is a technology performance problem, citing computer programming at 6.2% of EU business R&D against 18.6% in the US, and urge deregulation over subsidies.
CEPA's Majcin questions how far France's nuclear umbrella can shield Europe
CEPA's Juraj Majcin says President Macron's move to extend France's roughly 290 warhead deterrent to Germany, Poland, Denmark and Sweden marks a break from Gaullist doctrine, though its reach against Russia's larger arsenal is limited.
EDA signs EUR 15.65 million contract for first European VLEO military satellite
The European Defence Agency signed a EUR 15.65 million, 36 month contract with a 17 member consortium led by Spain's Sener to design Europe's first military satellite concept for Very Low Earth Orbit, funded by Spain, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia.
Romania designates ANCOM as national AI Act enforcement authority
Romania's government adopted a memorandum designating ANCOM as the national market surveillance authority and single contact point for the EU AI Act, with ASF, BNR and ANSPDCP named for sector specific high risk AI oversight.
Poland's president vetoes bill unlocking EUR 43.7 billion in EU defence loans
Poland's President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the law letting the National Development Bank draw EUR 43.7 billion in EU SAFE defence loans, calling it a decades-long foreign debt burden; the Tusk government said it would reroute the funds through an existing defence fund.
Microsoft breaks ground on EUR 3.2 billion AI data centre cluster in NRW
Microsoft broke ground on the first of three AI data centres in the Rhenish lignite mining area (Bergheim, Bedburg, Elsdorf), part of a EUR 3.2 billion German investment under its "Made for Germany" plan to expand cloud and AI capacity.
Belgium's FN Herstal and Dutch Damen sign MoU on maritime defence systems
Belgium's FN Herstal and the Netherlands' Damen signed a memorandum of understanding at BEDEX to integrate FN weapons with Damen vessels and jointly explore unmanned surface vessels for the Belgian and Dutch navies.
DigitalEurope urges WTO to enshrine e-commerce rules, expand IT pact at MC14
DigitalEurope urged WTO members at MC14 to fold the JSI e-commerce text into WTO law and widen the Information Technology Agreement, citing a possible EUR 2 trillion gain and two million jobs for Europe from freer data flows.
DigitalEurope sets conditions for digital euro's place in EU payments
DigitalEurope urged the ECB and EU institutions to design the digital euro as a complement to private payment rails, prioritising offline use, holding limits and fair distributor compensation rather than displacing existing systems.
CEPA's Monette: France's debt and gridlock undercut its defence spending pledge
CEPA's Nicole Monette says France's pledge to raise defence spending to EUR 64 billion within 18 months and add EUR 36 billion by 2030 is undercut by debt at 113 percent of GDP and a hung parliament after Bayrou's resignation.
CEPA's Fennell: Royal Navy's slow Cyprus response risks national embarrassment
James Fennell, CEPA fellow and former FCDO stabilisation director, writes that HMS Dragon could not sail from Cyprus until 10 March after a 2 March drone attack, behind an 11 ship French deployment, and argues UK defence spending of 2.3 percent of GDP is inadequate.
Elaia closes DeepTech Seed Fund III at EUR 134 million for European startups
Elaia Partners closed its third deep tech seed fund at EUR 134 million, roughly double its predecessor, backed by INRIA, Bpifrance, BNP Paribas and others, to back European pre-seed and seed startups in computing, semiconductors, quantum and industry.
DigitalEurope urges EUR 20 billion ecosystem budget for Chips Act 2.0
DigitalEurope urged Brussels to redesign Chips Act 2.0 around ecosystem competitiveness rather than fab subsidies, proposing a EUR 20 billion centralised semiconductor budget and dropping the narrow first of a kind fab criterion.
DroneShield opens first EU counter drone manufacturing line outside Australia
Australia's DroneShield opened its first counter drone production line outside Australia, contracting an EU manufacturer for turnkey assembly, with deliveries from mid-2026, as it scales global output toward USD 2.4 billion capacity.
ECIPE calls EU Industrial Accelerator Act bureaucratic industrial policy
ECIPE's Matthias Bauer calls the Commission's Industrial Accelerator Act "industrial policy by paperwork", arguing its supply chain documentation rules burden firms without lifting the EU's 2035 manufacturing GDP target.
Royal Navy contracts Kraken for 20 uncrewed vessels under Project Beehive
The Royal Navy contracted UK firm Kraken Technology Group to build 20 K-class uncrewed surface vessels under Project Beehive, reported at GBP 12.3 million, as testbeds for the Coastal Forces Squadron and 47 Commando, delivery due by March 2027.
UK selects US firm Persistent Systems for Project CAIN battlefield radios
The UK Ministry of Defence selected US firm Persistent Systems' Wave Relay MANET, MPU5 radios and Cloud Relay software for 16 Air Assault Brigade under Project CAIN, in a multi-million dollar contract with no figure disclosed.
Finnish intelligence report doubts Russian sabotage behind Baltic cable damage
Finland's Security and Intelligence Service Supo said in its National Security Overview 2026, published 10 March, that Baltic Sea cable damage has recurred for decades by anchor and cannot automatically be read as deliberate Russian state sabotage.
ESA offers EUR 50 million bonus to steer cargo return launches to Europe
ESA told bidders for its ALADDIN cargo return contracts it would offer up to EUR 50 million extra to those using Ariane 6 or another European launcher, on top of up to EUR 420 million per contract for two planned awards.
CCIA Europe warns Parliament's AI copyright report will squeeze startups
Responding to Parliament's copyright and generative AI resolution, CCIA Europe's Boniface de Champris said the non-binding report risks a "compliance tax" that could price European AI startups out of the market and should not replace existing rules.
Parliament adopts non-binding resolution to protect creators from AI training
MEPs adopted, 460 votes to 71 with 88 abstentions, a non-binding resolution calling for AI providers to disclose an itemised list of copyrighted training works, fair remuneration for rightsholders and an EUIPO-run opt-out registry.
Cyprus completes first operational use of EU's GOVSATCOM satellite hub
Cyprus completed its first operational use of the EU's GOVSATCOM Hub, drawing pooled secure satellite capacity from Greece's Hellas Sat under a five-state sharing arrangement, for governmental security communications on the EU's south-eastern border.
France's Education Ministry renews Microsoft framework deal to 2029, EUR 152 million cap
France's Ministry of Education renewed its framework agreement with Microsoft to 2029, worth up to EUR 152 million, covering software for around one million workstations and servers across ministries and universities, despite its own sovereignty guidance.
CEPA's Cytera says UK chip design incubators could grow the next ARM
CEPA's Christopher Cytera argues that Swansea's semiconductor doctoral centre and incubators ChipStart and SiliconCatalyst.UK can grow a new ARM, keeping chip design at the frontier of the democratic world and out of China's hands.
TNO starts building Europe's first 6-inch photonic chip pilot line
TNO began construction of a EUR 150 million industrial pilot line at Eindhoven's High Tech Campus for 6-inch indium phosphide photonic chips, part-funded through the European Chips Act, with PhotonDelta and SMART Photonics.
Nexperia's China unit claims independent 12-inch chip production
Nexperia's Chinese subsidiary said it produced small batches of 12-inch wafer discrete chips on a self-developed process, asserting production capability independent of its Dutch parent amid the ongoing Dutch state control dispute.
Isembard raises USD 50 million Series A to open UK aerospace and defence factories
Isembard raised a USD 50 million (about GBP 37 million) Series A led by Union Square Ventures to build 25 automated factories making precision aerospace and defence parts, with market launches planned in Germany, France and Ukraine.
Schwarz Digits co-chair says Lidl's cloud arm aims to be Europe's hyperscaler
Schwarz Digits co-chairman Christian Müller said in an interview the Lidl owner's cloud arm wants to become a "hyperscaler", a European alternative to AWS and Azure, as it builds its EUR 11 billion Lübbenau AI data campus.
EU defence commissioner Kubilius urges Poland to back EUR 43.7 billion SAFE loans
Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told reporters in Warsaw that Poland rejecting its EUR 43.7 billion share of the EU's EUR 150 billion SAFE loans would cost Polish jobs, as President Nawrocki resisted the scheme.
Spain and Portugal sign MoU to explore joint bid for EU AI gigafactory
At their 36th summit in La Rabida, Spain and Portugal signed a memorandum committing to explore a joint Iberian bid to host one of the EU's first AI gigafactories under the InvestAI scheme, ministers Oscar Lopez and Goncalo Matias said.
ECIPE says EU copyright rules choke data access for European AI systems
ECIPE's Oscar Guinea argues that EU copyright restrictions on data access for AI training undermine Europe's capacity to both develop and deploy AI, risking a shift from producer to consumer of the technology.
Netherlands withdraws report on risks of Amazon's sovereign cloud
The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security withdrew a Greenberg Traurig legal risk report on Amazon's European Sovereign Cloud after critics said it underestimated the risk of US government access to government data under the CLOUD Act.
CrowdStrike and Schwarz Digits partner to run Falcon on sovereign STACKIT
CrowdStrike and Germany's Schwarz Digits partnered to run the Falcon cybersecurity platform on STACKIT, Schwarz's sovereign cloud, keeping telemetry and detection processing inside the EU for regulated customers under EU law.
Dutch startup launches Office.eu, a European owned Microsoft 365 alternative
Netherlands based EUfforic launched Office.eu in The Hague, a wholly European owned suite of email, document editing and storage hosted entirely on European infrastructure, pitched against Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for SMEs and individuals.
Digital Realty enters Portugal with Lisbon data centre acquisition
US REIT Digital Realty entered Portugal, buying a building and land in Carnaxide near Lisbon's Carcavelos cable landing station, for a data centre of up to 2.4 megawatts due for service in early 2027.
CEPA's Decety says FCAS collapse shows Europe needs centralised procurement
CEPA's Nathan Decety says FCAS's collapse shows national government-to-contractor deals give industrial champions too much leverage, and urges a centralised European procurement authority modelled on the UK-Italy-Japan GCAP programme.
CEPA's Bassoli: FCAS fiasco proves European defence choices stay national
CEPA's Anna Matilde Bassoli argues FCAS's collapse, driven by a Dassault-Airbus row over an 80 percent workshare split and Franco-German rifts under Chancellor Merz, shows defence decisions remain national, not European.
CEPA's Bologa urges Europe to deepen digital partnerships beyond talk shops
CEPA's Anda Bologa writes that with US firms holding 70 to 80 percent of Europe's cloud market and designing its cutting edge chips, Europe should upgrade its digital partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Canada beyond talk shops.
CCIA Europe urges Irish EU presidency to reject preference for EU vendors
CCIA Europe published 12 recommendations for Ireland's EU Council presidency, urging it to finish the regulatory Omnibuses, reject discriminatory EU-preference procurement rules, and block network usage fees on content providers.
EU proposes Industrial Accelerator Act with Made in Europe procurement rules
European Commission proposed the Industrial Accelerator Act, setting Made in EU procurement quotas for steel, aluminium and cement, and screening foreign investment above EUR 100 million where one country holds over 40 percent of global output.
EU's EIF commits EUR 50 million to Join Capital Fund III for defence deeptech
The European Investment Fund committed EUR 50 million to Join Capital Fund III, a Berlin venture vehicle targeting EUR 235 million, under the InvestEU Defence Equity Facility to back early stage European defence, dual use and space deeptech firms.
EDA selects Airbus to expand Capa-X drone under M2UAS project
The European Defence Agency selected Airbus Helicopters, via its Survey Copter arm, for the EUR 1.1 million M2UAS project to expand its Capa-X drone into surveillance, electronic warfare and aerial effects roles over a 48 month programme.
CEPA fellow Golubeva urges a coordinated EU cyber defence layer against Russia
CEPA's Marija Golubeva argues the EU's 27 states should build a coordinated cyber defence "switchboard", with better prepared members like France and Poland aiding others, replacing reliance on US offensive cyber support.
Poland publishes delayed NIS2 transposition law in the Journal of Laws
Poland published its long overdue NIS2 transposition law, amending the Act on the National Cybersecurity System, in the Journal of Laws on 2 March 2026 as Dz.U. 2026 poz. 252, bringing telecoms and postal operators under the regime.
UK awards Leonardo GBP 1 billion contract for 23 AW149 helicopters
The UK Ministry of Defence awarded Leonardo UK a GBP 1 billion contract for 23 AW149 helicopters under the New Medium Helicopter programme, replacing the retired Puma fleet and moving AW149 export production to Leonardo's Yeovil site.
Telefonica launches EURO-3C sovereign edge and cloud network
Telefonica launched EURO-3C, a EUR 75 million Horizon Europe project building a federated sovereign edge and cloud network of over 70 nodes across more than 13 European countries with 70-plus partners.
Austria funds GATE Space to build its first military satellite
Austria's government confirmed roughly EUR 0.75 million in funding, via Austria Wirtschaftsservice, for startup GATE Space to build BEACONSAT, Austria's first military satellite, meant to detect GPS and Galileo jamming and spoofing, launch due February 2027.
Amazon raises Spain data centre investment to EUR 33.7 billion
Amazon raised its planned investment in Spanish data centres to EUR 33.7 billion, adding EUR 18 billion to a 2024 pledge for the AWS Aragon region and citing 29,900 supported jobs.
Polish parliament sends EUR44 billion SAFE defence loan bill to president
Poland's Sejm accepted Senate amendments to the bill implementing almost EUR 44 billion in EU SAFE defence loans, sending it to President Nawrocki, who has 21 days to sign, veto or refer it to the constitutional court.
Poland's PM Tusk details domestic SAFE spending plan, 89 percent to Polish arms firms
At a "SAFE, Safe Poland" event in Kobylka, PM Donald Tusk set out how Poland will spend its EUR 43.7 billion SAFE allocation for 2026 to 2030, with 89 percent, some 12,000 firms, going to Polish defence industry.
Leaseweb adds Nvidia L4 GPUs to sovereign UK cloud, claims 30 percent cost edge
Dutch cloud provider Leaseweb added Nvidia L4 GPU acceleration to its UK Public Cloud, its first GPU option there, pitching costs over 30 percent below hyperscalers while keeping workloads inside UK and European sovereign data centres.
CEPA's Fedasiuk: Europe should pursue selective sovereignty in AI compute
CEPA's Ryan Fedasiuk argues Europe should pursue "selective sovereignty" in AI infrastructure, leaning on its strength in energy and cable systems from Siemens, ABB and Prysmian rather than building a full EuroStack.
Dutch regulator clears Kyndryl takeover of DigiD host Solvinity, sovereignty unresolved
The Dutch competition authority ACM cleared Kyndryl's takeover of Solvinity, which hosts DigiD identity services for 16.5 million citizens, ruling that public concern about digital autonomy falls outside competition law; a separate national security review continues.
EU Defence Fund's ENGRT II rotorcraft project kicks off with EUR 100 million
The European Commission confirmed ENGRT II, the European Defence Fund's second rotorcraft technologies project, is underway with EUR 100 million of EU funding within a EUR 160 million total budget, led by Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo Helicopters across 13 member states.
DigitalEurope report urges EU market for scale to close EUR 1.2 trillion gap
DigitalEurope argues Europe's tech gap is a commercialisation problem, citing an annual EUR 1.2 trillion investment shortfall, and urges EU-level procurement, harmonised tax incentives and demand creation over 27 national approaches.
Ireland funds EUR 1.8 million AI system to detect vessels hiding at sea
Research Ireland awarded Trinity College Dublin's Sea Scan team over EUR 1.8 million in the Defence Innovation Challenge to build an AI system that detects vessels with transponders switched off, to help protect subsea cables.
Ireland launches first National Maritime Security Strategy for undersea cables
Defence Minister Helen McEntee launched Ireland's first National Maritime Security Strategy 2026-2030, a five year plan naming protection of undersea cables and interconnectors with France and the UK across its 420,000 square kilometre exclusive economic zone.
Bundestag approves Stark Defence Virtus loitering munitions for Brigade 45
Germany's Bundestag approved the procurement of Stark Defence's Virtus loitering munitions to equip the 45th Brigade in Lithuania.
ArianeGroup completes Greta engine tests, signs new ESA contract
ArianeGroup finished hot-fire testing of its Greta engine (hydrogen peroxide/ethanol, for Ariane 6's Astris kick stage and landers) at Trauen, Germany, and on 6 February 2026 signed a new ESA Future Launchers Preparatory Programme contract for a flight-engine demonstrator by 2027.
Ukraine's drone makers sign EUR 800 million Build with Ukraine partnerships
Ukraine's Culver Aerospace, Tencore, Remtecnology and Terminal Autonomy signed Build with Ukraine partnerships worth EUR 800 million with Denmark's Copenhagen Global, Finland's Insta and New Paakkola Oy, and Latvia's SIA Baltic Forces, for joint aerial and ground drone production.
EuroHPC launches QEC4QEA quantum applications centre with EU funding
EuroHPC JU launched QEC4QEA, a Quantum Excellence Centre coordinated by Forschungszentrum Julich, with EUR 4.9 million of Horizon Europe funding for 19 partners in eight countries building a one stop shop for quantum enhanced applications.
EDA opens EUR 1 million land domain tenders including counter-UAS for ground forces
The European Defence Agency opened tenders worth about EUR 1 million per project for land domain capabilities, including counter-UAS systems to protect ground forces, armoured platforms and uncrewed ground vehicles, over a 48-month duration.
Frankenburg Technologies raises EUR 30 million to mass-produce interceptor missiles
Estonian defence start-up Frankenburg Technologies closed a EUR 30 million Series A, led by Plural with Estonia's state-backed SmartCap, to build mass-production sites for its Mark I interceptor missile in the UK and Germany.
Axelera AI raises over USD 250 million to build European AI chips
Eindhoven based Axelera AI raised over USD 250 million, led by Innovation Industries with BlackRock, Samsung Catalyst Fund and EU public investors joining, to scale its edge AI inference chips against Nvidia on power efficiency.
IQM agrees Nasdaq SPAC merger, becoming Europe's first listed quantum firm
Finland's IQM agreed to merge with US shell company Real Asset Acquisition Corp to list American Depositary Shares on Nasdaq at a USD1.8 billion pre-money valuation plus USD134 million in PIPE financing, keeping operations in Finland and Munich.
Five European telcos demo pan-European federated Edge Continuum at MWC26
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, TIM and Vodafone federated their edge cloud environments into what they call Europe's first pan European Edge Continuum, built on the EU funded IPCEI CIS platform and running in lab and pre production environments.
EU aviation cybersecurity rule Part-IS becomes binding across airlines
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/203, EASA's Part-IS, became applicable across the EU to airlines, maintenance organisations, training bodies and air navigation providers, requiring a formal information security management system for aviation safety risks.
US tells Commission it opposes EU Buy European defence procurement rules
The US State Department and Department of Defense told the Commission's consultation on revising its Defence Procurement Directive that Washington opposes European preference rules, threatening to review Buy American waivers granted to nineteen member states.
UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland launch LEAP low-cost air defence programme
The UK, France, Germany, Italy and Poland launched LEAP (Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms), a joint E5 programme to develop and mass-produce cheap interceptors and counter-drone systems, with a first deliverable targeted for 2027.
Rheinmetall wins Bundeswehr order for 274 CT-025 turrets on Luchs 2 vehicle
Rheinmetall confirmed an order, signed in early February 2026 by GDELS for the Bundeswehr's Luchs 2 vehicle, worth a mid three-digit million-euro sum, covering 274 CT-025 unmanned turrets, Oerlikon KBA 25mm cannon and simulators, delivered by 2031.
MARA nears 64% takeover of EDF's sovereign cloud unit Exaion
MARA France, backed by Nasdaq listed MARA Holdings, said all conditions precedent were met for it to hold 64% of Exaion, EDF Pulse Ventures' sovereign cloud and AI compute unit; EDF stays a minority shareholder and client; closing due within days, terms undisclosed.
GlobalConnect begins EUR11.9 million Kattegat subsea cable to Denmark
GlobalConnect began construction of a EUR 11.9 million subsea cable across the Kattegat linking Lerkil, Sweden to Saeby, Denmark, with EUR 5.9 million from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility, targeting service by the end of 2027.
Fincantieri raises EUR 500 million in share placement, lifting free float to about 36%
Fincantieri placed 32,588,445 new shares, 10 percent of its capital, in an accelerated bookbuild raising about EUR 500 million. The company said the placement broadens its institutional shareholder base, raises the free float to about 36 percent and adds financial flexibility for its business plan.
MicroAlign secures EUR2.5 million EIC Accelerator grant for quantum fibre arrays
Eindhoven photonics firm MicroAlign secured a EUR 2.5 million EIC Accelerator grant plus an equity component to industrialise nanometre precision fibre array manufacturing for photonic quantum computers.
Ireland publishes national Digital and AI Strategy with new AI Office
Ireland published "Digital Ireland: Connecting our People, Securing our Future," 90 actions across five pillars, creating an AI Office of Ireland and an AI regulatory sandbox for SMEs, and targeting full public service digitalisation by 2030.
Greece's Intracom Defense wins over USD 108 million in new Raytheon Patriot contracts
Greek firm Intracom Defense said Raytheon, an RTX business, awarded it new Patriot air and missile defence contracts exceeding USD 108 million, extending IDE's role as a component supplier inside Raytheon's global supply chain.
EDRi: US visa bans and reports pressure Dutch enforcement of the DSA
EDRi member Bits of Freedom, with Justice for Prosperity, cites a US House Judiciary report of 3 February 2026 and late December 2025 US visa bans on five Europeans tied to DSA enforcement, calling it foreign interference in EU digital sovereignty.
ECIPE's Bauer: CJEU copyright case is a binary choice for European AI
ECIPE's Matthias Bauer argues a pending CJEU ruling on AI training and copyright is a binary choice that will decide whether Europe stays a location for frontier AI development or becomes a consumer of AI built elsewhere.
DigitalEurope: EU Grids Package underfunds digitalisation for data centres
DigitalEurope welcomes the Commission's European Grids Package for backing grid enhancing technologies, but says its EUR 1.2 trillion investment estimate to 2040 still leaves distribution level digitalisation, which underpins data centre capacity, underfunded.
CEPA's Landsbergis: Europe must forge its own strategy, not await US
Former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote in CEPA that Europe must set its own strategic course rather than wait on Washington, citing its exclusion from Ukraine talks and urging Europe to press its own transatlantic agenda.
CEPA's Cytera: Europe should target next-generation chips, not legacy fabs
CEPA's Christopher Cytera argues Europe should target chip niches like silicon carbide and design rather than legacy fabrication, citing the EU Chips Act's over EUR 43 billion mobilised and EUR 2.2 billion for STMicroelectronics's Sicily plant.
AQT and Scaleway agree to put Austrian quantum computer on sovereign cloud
Austrian firm AQT and French cloud provider Scaleway agreed to make AQT's 12-qubit IBEX Q1 trapped ion computer, based in Innsbruck, remotely accessible through Scaleway's sovereign cloud on scheduled weekly windows; commercial terms undisclosed.
EIC Accelerator selects 61 start-ups and SMEs for EUR467 million in support
The European Innovation Council selected 61 start-ups and SMEs from 17 EU and associated countries, including quantum firms SemiQon and MicroAlign, for a proposed EUR467 million in blended grant and equity support, with agreements due within three months.
EDA's SABUVIS II project completes European underwater drone swarm trials
The EDA's SABUVIS II project, EUR 3.7 million led by Poland with Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, concluded after four years having validated coordinated swarm movement and cross-manufacturer interoperability among biomimetic underwater drones.
Sateliot and PLD Space sign first commercial MIURA 5 launch contract for two satellites
Spanish operator Sateliot signed a commercial contract with PLD Space for a dedicated MIURA 5 launch of two Trito satellites (about 160 kg each) in 2027: the first fully Spanish private space mission spanning manufacture, launch, operations and sale. Value undisclosed.
EU Council adopts second batch of SAFE loans for eight member states
The Council of the EU formally adopted a second batch of SAFE defence loans for Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Finland.
Rheinmetall's Seasnake naval gun wins first NATO order: Sweden buys EUR 63 million
Rheinmetall will supply Sweden's navy with eight Seasnake 30 remote naval guns for Combat Boat 90 craft under a framework deal worth about EUR 63 million, with an option for 29 more systems. First delivery due February 2028; Sweden is the first NATO buyer.
Pasqal delivers Italy's first neutral atom quantum computer to CINECA
French firm Pasqal delivered a 140 plus qubit neutral atom quantum computer to CINECA at the Bologna Technopole, co-funded by Italy's Ministry of University and Research and EuroHPC, for integration with the Leonardo supercomputer.
Mistral AI agrees to acquire Paris cloud platform Koyeb, its first acquisition
Mistral AI agreed to acquire Paris based cloud platform Koyeb, its first ever acquisition, to build in house serverless deployment and inference infrastructure for Mistral Compute. Terms undisclosed; completion subject to closing conditions.
Ireland launches I-C3 national semiconductor competence centre
Ireland launched I-C3, its national semiconductor competence centre, coordinated by Tyndall National Institute with UCD, MCCI and MIDAS Ireland, co-funded by Enterprise Ireland and the EU Chips Joint Undertaking; funding amount undisclosed.
EUSPA signs Thales Alenia Space to build central platform for EU GNSS
The EU Agency for the Space Programme signed a framework contract with Thales Alenia Space to build the EGNSS Service Demonstrator, a centralised platform for testing and rolling out Galileo and EGNOS satellite navigation services.
EIC Pathfinder awards EUR3 million to VTT led Super ICQ quantum consortium
The European Innovation Council awarded EUR 3 million under its Pathfinder programme to Super ICQ, a VTT led consortium including Lancaster University, to develop superconducting control circuits for scalable quantum computers.
DigitalEurope's Bonefeld-Dahl: AI Act delay must not replace real reform
DigitalEurope director general Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl warns lawmakers not to let the AI Act's urgent delay substitute for fixing unresolved flaws in the omnibus, citing incomplete standards, overlapping conformity rules and heavy Data Act and Cyber Resilience Act burdens.
DigitalEurope urges splitting AI omnibus into delay and reform tracks
DigitalEurope's Julien Chasserieau and Bianca Manelli propose splitting the AI omnibus into a fast-tracked delay and a separate reform, urging sectoral integration of AI rules, legacy clauses, GDPR-aligned data governance and dropping duplicate CE marking for software.
European Parliament disables built-in AI features on lawmakers' devices
The European Parliament's IT department disabled built in AI assistant features, including tools from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic, on MEPs' and staff's corporate tablets and phones, saying it could not guarantee the security of data sent to the vendors' servers.
Starmer tells Munich conference Europe must spend, deliver and coordinate more
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Munich Security Conference Europe must "spend more, deliver more, and coordinate more" on hard power, citing GBP 500 million in fresh UK air defence support for Ukraine and a pending warship deal with Norway.
Canada joins EU SAFE defence fund as first non-European participant
The EU and Canada signed a SAFE participation agreement at the Munich Security Conference, letting Canadian content make up to 80 percent of any SAFE funded defence procurement against an initial EUR 10 million Canadian contribution, Canada being the first non-European participant.