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This is the daily record across four areas, with the voices' opinions marked as opinion. Every item is graded Verified or Reported and states what it does not test, and the weekly email and the monthly issue are drawn from it.

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IIEA and Vodafone Ireland warn of serious risk to Ireland's subsea cables A paper by IIEA researchers Cian FitzGerald and Barry Colfer, launched with Vodafone Ireland, found 75 percent of transatlantic cables transit Irish waters and many of Ireland's 14 landing cables are near 80 percent of their expected lifetime. Compute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read Greece's KYSEA approves EUR 3 billion Achilles Shield air defence with Israeli systems Greece's KYSEA security council approved a EUR 3 billion Achilles Shield air defence layer built on Israeli Barak MX, David's Sling and Spyder systems, with Greek industry guaranteed a 25 percent, over EUR 700 million, manufacturing share. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read EuroHPC opens procurement for MeluXina-Q quantum computer in Luxembourg EuroHPC JU opened procurement worth up to EUR 11.95 million, split with Luxembourg, for a silicon spin qubit machine named MeluXina-Q, to be hosted by LuxProvide alongside the MeluXina supercomputer. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Ateme, Qvest and Scaleway launch sovereign OTT platform alliance for Europe France's Ateme, Germany's Qvest and France's Scaleway formed an alliance to deliver production ready sovereign OTT platforms for European broadcasters, pairing Scaleway's cloud with Ateme's streaming stack and Qvest's integration, aligned with the EU's Cloud Sovereignty Framework. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted CEPA's Sedlak says clashing NATO and EU industrial strategies leave arms makers hedging CEPA's Miro Sedlak writes that NATO's and the EU's defence industrial strategies, published days apart in July 2026, clash on membership and EU local content rules, leaving manufacturers hedging rather than expanding production. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted CEPA says EU enforcement wave against US tech risks transatlantic China unity CEPA's Ronan Murphy argues EUR 1.59 billion in DMA fines against Google, Apple and Meta, including the EUR 890 million Google case, show the EU targeting US firms when it should unite with Washington against China. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted CCIA calls Commission's USD 1 billion Google DMA fine punishment of popular features CCIA Europe's Daniel Friedlaender criticised the Commission's near USD 1 billion Google DMA fine, saying it penalises product features consumers like and risks becoming a de facto tax on successful US firms. Policy and law ReportedOpinionAI-drafted GSMA report finds Huawei and ZTE removal could cost EU telecoms EUR 40 billion GSMA Intelligence, commissioned by Deutsche Telekom, Fastweb, MEO, Orange, Telefonica, United Group and Vodafone, found removing high-risk vendors from EU telecom networks would cost EUR 30 billion to EUR 40 billion, far above the Commission's EUR 10 billion to EUR 13 billion estimate. Compute and infrastructurePolicy and law ReportedAI-drafted Greece receives first EUR 118.2 million SAFE defence loan payment The European Commission paid Greece the first EUR 118.2 million tranche of its EUR 787.7 million SAFE loan allocation, money Greece must spend on EU-made ammunition, missiles, air defence and ground combat systems. Industry, investment and R&DDefence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Galileo satellite SAT34 enters service, joining SAT33 in the constellation The EU Space Programme's Security Accreditation Board authorised Galileo satellite SAT34 to enter service on 23 July 2026, joining SAT33, in service since May, as the newest members of the operational Galileo constellation. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted EU fines Google EUR 890 million for Digital Markets Act breaches The Commission fined Google EUR 890 million under the DMA: EUR 460 million for self-preferencing its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports results in Search, and EUR 430 million for blocking Play Store developers from steering users to other offers. Policy and law VerifiedAI-drafted EuroHPC signs EUR 80 million contract for MeluXina-AI supercomputer EuroHPC signed an EUR 80 million contract with Italy's E4 Computer Engineering to build the MeluXina-AI supercomputer at Bissen and Bettembourg, Luxembourg, funding half the cost for the Luxembourg AI Factory serving regional startups and researchers. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted UK extends BAE Systems contract by GBP 708 million for Tempest combat air tech The UK Ministry of Defence extended its contract with BAE Systems and Team Tempest partners Leonardo UK, MBDA UK and Rolls-Royce by GBP 708 million, for sixth-generation combat air technology work that feeds into GCAP. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Virkkunen warns foreign AI dependence risks becoming political leverage Commission executive vice-president Henna Virkkunen told the Financial Times foreign control of frontier AI could be weaponised, citing Washington's June 2026 export curbs on Anthropic's models, and said Europe must cut risky dependencies while keeping markets open. Policy and law ReportedOpinionEditor-read Siemens Cre8Ventures and Cloudberry VC form European deep-tech alliance Siemens Cre8Ventures and Helsinki's Cloudberry VC formed a non-exclusive alliance pairing industrial validation with venture capital to move European semiconductor, photonics and materials startups from research to industrial deployment, with no fees or equity exchanged. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Schwarz Digits opens sovereign cloud campus for 5,500 staff in Germany Schwarz Digits opened its new campus in Bad Friedrichshall, Germany, for up to 5,500 staff, consolidating cloud, AI and cybersecurity teams behind sovereign platform STACKIT, which it says restores data sovereignty for European firms and public bodies. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Poland doubles its IRIS2 satellite constellation funding to EUR 656 million Poland's interior minister signed an agreement with EU Commissioner Kubilius doubling Poland's national contribution to the IRIS2 secure satellite constellation to EUR 656 million, funding twelve satellites and a Warsaw ground station linked to GovNet. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Microsoft commits multibillion dollar sum to expand Mistral's European compute Microsoft committed a multibillion dollar sum to expand French AI lab Mistral's European GPU capacity with thousands of Nvidia Vera Rubin chips, calling it an extension of its Sovereign Cloud approach for regulated industries, while taking no new equity stake. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Airbus anchors EUR 500 million E2D European defence tech growth fund Airbus Defence and Space became anchor investor in E2D, a EUR 500 million growth fund launched by AVP and Earlybird for European dual-use and defence technology firms, with Airbus's own stake left undisclosed. Industry, investment and R&DDefence and space VerifiedAI-drafted EDRi warns EU border deal would trade citizens' biometric data for US visa waiver EDRi warns a leaked Enhanced Border Security Partnership draft would let EU states hand biometric and risk-assessment data to the US to keep visa-free travel, without the discrimination safeguards it says EU law requires. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted EU deadline forces states to designate critical entities under CER Directive The EU's Critical Entities Resilience Directive deadline for member states to identify and designate critical entities, across eleven sectors including digital infrastructure, took effect, starting a one month notification window and a ten month compliance clock for resilience duties. Policy and lawCompute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read ECIPE calls Commission's DMA interoperability order on Google a privilege escalation ECIPE's Fredrik Erixon and Dyuti Pandya argue the Commission's DMA order forcing Google to open Android and Search data to rivals risks security and mainly benefits large incumbent AI firms. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted EU launches Ukraine Drone Alliance after EUR 1 billion drone disbursement The European Commission launched the EU Ukraine Drone Alliance with eighteen founding members and the Drone Deal partnership, following disbursement of EUR 1 billion for drones under the EU's Ukraine Support Loan, to build joint drone and counter drone production. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Cambridge's Silicon Microgravity raises EUR 7.08 million for GPS-free navigation Cambridge spinout Silicon Microgravity raised EUR 7.08 million (GBP 6 million) led by West Hill Capital and the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, to scale MEMS inertial sensors giving navigation where GPS signals are denied. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read Lockheed Martin earmarks USD 100 million venture fund for UK and Europe US prime Lockheed Martin earmarked USD 100 million of its USD 1 billion venture fund for UK and European startups and opened a London office, without yet naming which companies will receive the capital. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted EuroHPC opens tender for INNOVATE industrial supercomputer in Bologna EuroHPC JU opened a tender worth about EUR 11.6 million, EUR 4.1 million from the EU, for an industrial grade CPU and GPU supercomputer named INNOVATE, to be hosted by CINECA in Bologna for AI training and simulation. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedEditor-read EDA reports EU defence spending at EUR 418 billion, joint procurement lags The European Defence Agency reported EU defence spending reached EUR 418 billion in 2025, projected at EUR 454 billion for 2026, while collaborative procurement stayed at 24 percent of the EUR 115 billion equipment budget. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedAI-drafted EDRi says GDPR and AI Act need enforcement, not Digital Omnibus simplification EDRi argues Europe's rights-based digital rulebook is a competitive advantage and warns the proposed Digital Omnibus, touching the GDPR and AI Act, risks rolling back protections that need enforcing, not loosening. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted EU orders Google to open Android AI assistant access and Search data to rivals The Commission issued binding DMA specification measures ordering Google to let rival AI assistants access Android features on equal terms with Gemini, and to share anonymised Search ranking data with competing search engines and chatbots. Policy and law VerifiedAI-drafted Airbus picks Scaleway as sovereign cloud provider, scoring extraterritorial law risk Airbus selected French cloud provider Scaleway for business critical enterprise applications after scoring bidders on "protection against non European extraterritorial legislation" alongside European jurisdiction and data protection. Policy and lawIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Commissioner Virkkunen calls India a trusted semiconductor talent partner EU Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said India is a key semiconductor partner for its skilled talent pool, part of EU efforts to work with trusted partners and build its own capacity rather than depend on a single supplier. Policy and lawIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedOpinionEditor-read Sensity AI wins EUR 4.9 million EIC grant for deepfake forensics research Amsterdam based Sensity AI won EUR 4.9 million from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, including a EUR 2.5 million equity free grant, to build forensic grade deepfake detection models, one of 38 firms picked from 1,760 applicants. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law VerifiedAI-drafted French Assembly inquiry finds EUR 1.5 billion public software spend non-European France's National Assembly inquiry committee, chaired by Philippe Latombe with Cyrielle Chatelain as rapporteur, found 79 percent of 2025 public software spending, about EUR 1.5 billion a year, goes to non-European vendors, and urged mandatory open-source procurement from 2030. Policy and lawCompute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read European Processor Initiative concludes as Rhea1 chip runs for first time The European Processor Initiative said its second phase has concluded, with the 80 core Rhea1 chip, Europe's most complex processor design, fully operational and set to power the JUPITER exascale system. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted EuroHPC commits EUR 10 million to new phase of EUMaster4HPC skills programme EuroHPC JU signed a grant agreement worth about EUR 10 million to extend the EUMaster4HPC programme to 2032, training up to 400 students across 43 partners in 23 countries in HPC, AI and quantum computing. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Ukraine and EU sign EDIP and EDF agreements opening EUR 300 million to Ukrainian defence firms Ukraine's defence minister Fedorov and EU defence commissioner Kubilius signed EDF accession and an EDIP financing agreement giving Ukrainian firms a EUR 300 million Ukraine Support Instrument: EUR 260 million for output capacity, EUR 35.3 million for BraveTech EU grants. Industry, investment and R&DDefence and space VerifiedEditor-read EU and India agree to open Horizon Europe talks, deepen semiconductor and AI cooperation At the third EU-India Trade and Technology Council in Brussels, the Commission and India agreed to open Horizon Europe association talks, targeting a close by end 2026, and to deepen cooperation on semiconductors, high-performance computing, quantum and AI. Policy and lawIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read EU AI Office experts urge Commission to triple bloc's global AI compute share The Commission's AI Office published expert forum findings recommending the EU triple its share of global AI compute capacity from about 5 percent to 15 percent, matching its share of world GDP, naming compute and energy the most urgent priorities. Compute and infrastructurePolicy and law ReportedEditor-read DigitalEurope says Chips Act 2.0 needs EUR 20 billion member state funding DIGITALEUROPE's Fabian Bohnenberger and Clara Balestrieri welcome the Chips Act 2.0 proposal but call for member states to commit at least EUR 20 billion under the 2028 to 2034 budget, citing a 15 to 30 percent cost disadvantage against Asian rivals. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted ESA installs first on-premises quantum computer, Bell-1, in Italy ESA installed its first on-premises quantum computer, Bell-1, a 6-qubit system built by Irish firm Equal1, at its Earth observation centre in Frascati, Italy, to prototype hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for satellite data processing. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Parliament and Council agree EU's AGILE defence innovation programme European Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional political agreement on the AGILE programme, a EUR 115 million fast track grant instrument for SME defence innovation, targeted to start operating on 1 January 2027. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedAI-drafted Danish startup Triton Depth raises EUR 1 million for underwater sensor network Copenhagen startup Triton Depth raised EUR 1 million in a pre seed round from Denmark's EIFO and The Creator Fund, to build a passive acoustic sensor network detecting underwater drones and threats to subsea cables. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read Berlin's NextGO Epi raises EUR 2 million pre-seed for gallium oxide chip wafers NextGO Epi, an IKZ spin-off and Europe's only gallium oxide epiwafer producer, raised EUR 2 million pre-seed led by Vireo Ventures to expand production and its European and global commercial presence. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read South Korea's KoMiCo funds Czech chip-parts plant near Dresden fab cluster South Korean supplier KoMiCo approved an 81.38 billion won guarantee backing a USD 45 million loan for its Czech subsidiary TaMiCo Zatec, building a chip parts cleaning and coating plant to supply ESMC, GlobalFoundries, Infineon and Bosch near Dresden. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read EU opens EUR 3.94 million pilot call on subsea cable security data The Commission opened a EUR 3.94 million call, 50 percent EU co-financed, for a pilot pooling private sector surveillance data to support the EU's Regional Cable Hubs against submarine cable threats, open to consortia of at least two member states. Compute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read Destinus leads five firm Bliksem EXO consortium for European missile defence Destinus, MBDA Deutschland, Safran Electronics and Defense, Airbus Defence and Space and Thales signed a letter of intent in Paris to form the Bliksem EXO consortium, led by Destinus, to build a European exo atmospheric interceptor. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted EDRi urges Commission to reassess EU-US Data Privacy Framework EDRi said the Commission must immediately reassess the EU-US Data Privacy Framework after the US Supreme Court's Trump v Slaughter ruling stripped independent-agency protections underpinning the adequacy decision, and publish its legal assessment. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted Deutsche Telekom and AIT win EU mandate to unify quantum comms backbone The European Commission awarded coordination mandates for EuroQCI's quantum communication backbone to Deutsche Telekom's PETRUS2 and Austria's AIT HarmoniQCI, tasking them to unify 26 national quantum key distribution networks into one European infrastructure. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted EU clears EUR 659 million German state aid for four semiconductor plants The European Commission approved EUR 659 million in German state aid for four chip plants under the Chips Act: Element 3-5, KETEK, and German units of US-owned Vishay and KLA, taking cumulative EU chip aid clearances to about EUR 14.2 billion. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law ReportedAI-drafted UK funds three suppliers to develop low cost air defence interceptors The UK Ministry of Defence awarded GBP 3.16 million to three suppliers, Frankenburg Technologies, Greenjets and Cambridge Aerospace, to develop low cost drone interceptors under the LCADE programme within the five nation LEAP initiative. Defence and space VerifiedEditor-read Intel to invest EUR 5 billion to expand chip manufacturing at Leixlip, Ireland Intel said it will invest EUR 5 billion to upgrade its Fab 34 campus at Leixlip with Intel 3 tooling for Xeon processors, targeting completion by end 2027, announced with Taoiseach Micheal Martin. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read ESA report finds European space budgets grew 12 percent in 2025 ESA's Space Economy Report 2026 found European space budgets rose 12 percent to EUR 13.5 billion in 2025, the first double digit rise in five years, driven chiefly by German defence spending, while European primes held only 10 percent of the global upstream market. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted CriteriaCaixa relaunches venture arm, targets EUR 300 million for Iberian deep tech CriteriaCaixa relaunched its venture arm as two evergreen vehicles, Criteria Bio Ventures and Criteria Venture Tech, targeting EUR 300 million invested by 2030 in Spanish and Portuguese biotech, AI, photonics, cybersecurity and software infrastructure firms. Industry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read ECIPE says Spain's China caution on cybersecurity law is self-imposed, not coerced ECIPE's Hosuk Lee-Makiyama argues Madrid, not Beijing, drives Spain's resistance to the EU's cybersecurity act, linking its stance to EUR 4 billion in Chinese battery investment and reliance on Chinese cloud servers. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted ECIPE urges EU to anchor Southeast Europe in digital, industrial value chains ECIPE's Philipp Lamprecht and Frauke Seebass argue the EU is losing ground to China, Russia, Turkey and Gulf states in Southeast Europe's digital connectivity, critical raw materials and defence sectors, and urge deeper integration of candidate states into EU value chains. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted Helsing raises USD 1.8 billion Series E, mostly from US and Canadian funds Munich-based defence AI company Helsing closed a USD 1.8 billion Series E at a USD 18 billion valuation, with most new money from US and Canadian funds including Dragoneer, Lightspeed, ICONIQ, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, alongside European investor Daniel Ek. Industry, investment and R&DDefence and space ReportedAI-drafted Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein gain access to the EU's EDIP defence programme The EEA Committee incorporated the EU's EDIP defence industry programme into the EEA Agreement, opening it to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein; Norway's government said it would contribute around NOK 315 million from 2026. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedEditor-read Scaleway acquires French HPC and heat recycling specialist Qarnot Scaleway, owned by Iliad, acquired French low carbon HPC and heat recycling specialist Qarnot, becoming the only European sovereign cloud operator offering cloud, AI and high performance computing on one platform; financial terms were not disclosed. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted SAFE loan instrument pays Croatia first EUR 255 million tranche The European Commission disbursed Croatia's first SAFE loan tranche of EUR 255 million, 15 percent of its EUR 1.7 billion allocation, following the loan agreement signed by Croatia and Commissioner Kubilius in May. Defence and space ReportedAI-drafted VOLT launches Dutch AI Cloud with Dell and NorthC, live from October Dutch operator VOLT signed agreements with NorthC Datacenters, Dell Technologies and De Groot Family Office to launch the Dutch AI Cloud from Amsterdam, going live in October 2026 as a European alternative to foreign AI clouds. Compute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read QuantumDiamonds raises EUR 91 million combining equity and EU Chips Act funding Munich's QuantumDiamonds closed EUR 91 million, EUR 15 million equity led by World Fund plus EUR 76 million non-dilutive EU Chips Act funding from Germany and Bavaria, to scale quantum sensor chip inspection production. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted University of Sheffield spin-out Pixel-Flo raises GBP 5.25 million seed round Pixel-Flo, a University of Sheffield spin-out, raised GBP 5.25 million (EUR 6.1 million) seed funding led by Northern Gritstone, with SCVC, Parkwalk and Germany's HTGF, to scale its fluidic self-assembly process for microLED display manufacturing. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Germany commissions Rheinmetall and MBDA to build a naval laser weapon Germany's BAAINBw procurement office commissioned Rheinmetall and MBDA, working as ARGE HEL, to develop a naval laser weapon system in a contract priced in the mid three-digit million-euro range, targeting service entry by 2029. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Lissi GmbH raises EUR 3.5 million for EU digital identity wallet connector German digital identity firm Lissi GmbH closed a EUR 3.5 million round led by pan-European investor Ventech, with Commerzbank's incubator and Hessen's state fund, to build an EU Digital Identity Wallet connector for banks ahead of new EU anti-money-laundering rules. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law VerifiedAI-drafted UK's Kraken Technology raises USD 175 million Series B led by Germany's DTCP UK maritime defence firm Kraken Technology Group closed a USD 175 million Series B at a USD 1 billion valuation, led by Hamburg's DTCP Defence with Britain's state-owned British Business Bank, NSSIF and the NATO Innovation Fund. Industry, investment and R&DDefence and space VerifiedAI-drafted European Parliament clears trilogue mandate for EU military mobility law The European Parliament raised no objection on 8 July to opening trilogue talks on the EU military mobility regulation, which would set EU wide digital transport permits and seeks EUR 18 billion in future funding; talks with the Council begin 16 July. Policy and lawDefence and space ReportedEditor-read Commission opens targeted consultation on safeguarding EU data sovereignty The Commission opened a targeted consultation on EU data sovereignty, seeking evidence on third country barriers to data access and cross border transfer risks for EU organisations, open for responses until 15 September 2026 under the Data Union Strategy. Policy and law VerifiedAI-drafted Belgian chipmaker e-peas raises USD 22 million for energy-harvesting chips Belgian chipmaker e-peas raised USD 22 million led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with Belgium's SFPIM and the European Innovation Council among backers, to scale energy harvesting power management chips for battery free Ambient IoT devices. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Twelve French firms unveil Aether consortium for Strasbourg AI gigafactory Twelve French firms led by 2CRSi and SiPearl unveiled the Aether consortium, targeting two AI gigafactory sites near Strasbourg with an initial 42 megawatts scaling toward 400 megawatts, ahead of the EU's Gigafactories call. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read EU launches EUR 50 million Q-PLANET quantum chip pilot line with 28 partners The EU backed Q-PLANET, a EUR 50 million Horizon Europe pilot line coordinated by France's Pasqal with 28 partners across 11 member states, to industrialise European-made neutral-atom quantum chip components for computing, sensing and communication. Industry, investment and R&DCompute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted LUMI AI Factory picks Finland's IQM to build LUMI-IQ quantum computer Finland's LUMI AI Factory selected Finnish firm IQM to deliver the Halocene H4 quantum computer, LUMI-IQ, jointly funded by EuroHPC JU with Finland, Czechia, Norway and Poland; the initial 150 qubit system is due for delivery in 2027. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Commission refers Ireland, Spain, France and Netherlands to CJEU over NIS2 delays The Commission referred Ireland, Spain, France and the Netherlands to the CJEU for not notifying full transposition of the NIS2 cybersecurity directive, due since 17 October 2024, and asked for a lump sum and daily penalties. Policy and law VerifiedAI-drafted Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye extend Black Sea mission to undersea cables Romania's defence minister signed an amendment to the Romania Bulgaria Türkiye memorandum on the Black Sea mine countermeasures group, signed at the NATO Ankara summit, extending its mandate to protecting critical undersea infrastructure. Policy and lawDefence and space VerifiedAI-drafted ArianeGroup secures long-term Ariane 6 fairing supply from Beyond Gravity ArianeGroup signed a long term contract with Swiss supplier Beyond Gravity for 27 carbon fibre payload fairings covering Ariane 6 flights FM16 to FM42, securing a key structural component through the rocket's operational ramp up. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted US firm Trust Stamp joins EU's IPCEI AST semiconductor initiative via Malta US identity verification firm Trust Stamp's Maltese unit joined the EU's IPCEI Advanced Semiconductor Technologies programme, backed by Malta Enterprise, to co-develop a semiconductor identity platform, with the funding envelope still unset. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Proxima Fusion raises EUR 411 million in Series A2, Google joins as investor Munich based Proxima Fusion raised EUR 411 million in a Series A2 round led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with Google and RWE as strategic investors, valuing the fusion energy company at EUR 2.4 billion. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Nordic and Canadian research networks sign MoU backing Polar Connect cable NORDUnet, representing the five Nordic research networks, and Canada's CANARIE signed a memorandum of understanding backing Polar Connect, an Arctic subsea cable route the EU has tagged a Cable Project of European Interest. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted NATO picks Saab GlobalEye over Boeing to modernise its AWACS fleet Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania and Sweden launched joint procurement of Sweden's Saab GlobalEye to replace part of NATO's ageing Boeing E-3 AWACS fleet. Defence and space VerifiedEditor-read Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway order up to five MQ-4C Triton drones Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway announced procurement of up to five Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones; Airbus Defence and Space and other European firms will build the ground segment. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall sign MOU for European ATACMS production Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall signed a memorandum of understanding at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum to build Europe's first ATACMS production and integration centre at Rheinmetall's Unterluss site, targeting 600 to 800 missiles a year from 2027. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read Lithuania joins Poland's bid for a EuroHPC AI gigafactory Lithuania's economy ministry, led by acting minister Edvinas Griksas, signed a joint procurement contract with Poland's digital ministry to bid together for a EuroHPC AI gigafactory, building on a January memorandum, with funding contingent on the bid winning EU financing. Compute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read France signs third strategic contract for digital infrastructure sector France's state and five digital infrastructure federations signed a third strategic sector contract to 2030 covering networks, cables, components and data centres, naming resilience and sovereignty among six priority areas, with no funding set. Policy and lawIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Finland, Norway and Latvia sign statement of intent on Patria TRACKX vehicle Finland, Norway and Latvia signed a statement of intent at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum to explore joint development and procurement of Patria's EDF co funded TRACKX armoured vehicle, aiming at national serial orders from 2027. Defence and space VerifiedEditor-read Commission presents EU Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence The Commission presented an Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, aiming to curb AI enabled cyberattacks and build EU capability for AI driven cyber defence. Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said AI "is transforming the meaning of cybersecurity." Policy and law VerifiedAI-drafted CNRS says it cut Zoom and Microsoft Exchange for sovereign digital tools France's CNRS said it dropped Zoom for LaSuite's Visio, moved from Microsoft Exchange to Renater's Zimbra in April saving EUR 20 million over six years, and now runs the Mistral built CNRS Emmy AI assistant with over 13,000 regular users. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedEditor-read NATO awards EUR 200 million cloud contract led by Accenture NATO's communications agency awarded a EUR 200 million, seven year contract for its Protected Business Network cloud platform to Accenture, an Ireland domiciled but US linked prime, with Leonardo as partner for design, implementation and operations. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Ireland cancels up to EUR 1 billion Microsoft tender over sovereignty concerns Ireland's Office of Government Procurement cancelled a planned EUR 750 million to EUR 1 billion Microsoft framework after an interested party raised concerns, minister Frankie Feighan told the Dáil, with a fresh tender promised "as early as feasible". Policy and law ReportedAI-drafted Catalonia adopts EUR 481 million budget for a sovereign public cloud Catalonia's Executive Council approved an eight-year, EUR 481 million budget for a sovereign public cloud to host Generalitat data under EU jurisdiction, targeting SEAL 3 certification, and opened a tender with no operator yet chosen. Industry, investment and R&DCompute and infrastructure ReportedAI-drafted Germany's cabinet approves 2027 budget lifting defence spending to EUR 109.7 billion Germany's cabinet approved a draft 2027 federal budget raising the Defence Ministry's allocation to EUR 109.7 billion, part of a path to NATO's 3.5 percent of GDP target by 2029. Finance minister Klingbeil said a balanced budget cannot defend Germany against Putin. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedEditor-read Finland, UK, Netherlands and Poland agree to develop joint defence financing tool Finland, the UK, the Netherlands and Poland issued a joint statement committing to develop a new Multilateral Defence Mechanism for joint procurement financing, and to move to formal treaty talks with a view to setting it up by 2027. Industry, investment and R&DDefence and space VerifiedAI-drafted ECIPE argues proportionality already works, opposes rushing IPRED reform ECIPE's Fredrik Erixon and Dyuti Pandya contend IPRED already embeds proportionality and that a cited 94 percent injunction rate is misleading, urging the EU let Unified Patent Court practice mature before reform. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted CEPA warns US Supreme Court ruling threatens EU-US Data Privacy Framework CEPA's Anda Bologa warns the Trump v Slaughter ruling, letting the US president remove FTC commissioners at will, undercuts the independence underpinning the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and invites a Schrems III challenge. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted RUSI's Shetler-Jones argues in CEPA that NATO First misdirects UK defence industry spending RUSI's Philip Shetler-Jones argues in CEPA that Britain's NATO First doctrine misallocates defence resources, urging London to back the maritime and air techno-industrial base behind GCAP and AUKUS over land forces like Ajax. Defence and space VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted NATO picks Thales and Leonardo for special forces deployable comms NATO's communications agency selected a Thales and Leonardo consortium to build the first project of the SOFCOM programme, deployable secure communication and information systems for six special forces headquarters. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted EuroHPC launches EUR 4 million Q-Neko project with Japan on quantum HPC EuroHPC JU launched Q-Neko, a EUR 4 million Horizon Europe project pairing ten European partners including CSC, IQM and CEA with five Japanese organisations to build shared benchmarks and standards for quantum accelerated high performance computing. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Ireland unveils over EUR 100 million expansion of Tyndall chip institute Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Minister James Lawless announced an investment of more than EUR 100 million to double Tyndall National Institute's footprint in Cork, strengthening Ireland's semiconductor and chip research capacity. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read Germany's Chancellery sets up inter-ministerial AI taskforce Germany's Chancellery set up an inter-ministerial AI taskforce led by the digital ministry BMDS, with five working groups on frontier AI, AI security, AI infrastructure, AI and society, and AI applications, meeting first on 3 July ahead of the November Digital Summit. Policy and law ReportedEditor-read Commission proposes five joint defence projects worth EUR 325 million under EDIP The Commission proposed five European Defence Projects of Common Interest under EDIP, covering drones and counter drone, maritime and seabed defence, space, air and missile defence, and Eastern Flank Watch, allocating EUR 325 million from EDIP's EUR 1.5 billion budget. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedAI-drafted GCAP nations award GBP 4.6 billion Edgewing contract for next-generation fighter jet The trilateral GCAP Agency (UK, Japan, Italy) awarded GBP 4.6 billion (about USD 6.1 billion) to Edgewing, the BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement joint venture, to complete concept work and begin detailed design of the next-generation fighter jet. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted EU defence commissioner Kubilius calls for the EU budget to rise for war readiness EU Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told a conference that a serious Europe should raise the EU budget to at least 2 percent of GNI now, warning it could otherwise need 12 to 15 percent of GDP in wartime. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedOpinionEditor-read Kongsberg wins contract to protect critical undersea infrastructure Kongsberg (Norway) won a contract from an undisclosed international customer to supply underwater surveillance and protection technology for critical infrastructure such as subsea cables and energy installations. Contract value was not disclosed. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Isar Aerospace books first all-German satellite launch for Planet's Pelican Isar Aerospace (Germany) will launch Planet Labs Germany's Berlin-built Pelican Earth observation satellite on its Spectrum rocket from Andøya, Norway, targeted for late 2026: Germany's first satellite and rocket both built domestically. Defence and space VerifiedAI-drafted Ireland launches EUR 10 million AI Factory Antenna to access EU compute Ireland launched its AI Factory Antenna in Dublin, EUR 10 million funded evenly by the EU and the Department of Further and Higher Education, giving Irish researchers, startups and SMEs gateway access to AI factory supercomputers in France and Luxembourg. Compute and infrastructure ReportedEditor-read Hexonia wins German Bundeswehr order for new combat helmets Bundeswehr Bekleidungsmanagement GmbH ordered new ballistic combat helmets from Hexonia GmbH, built with NFM Poland and NFM Technology Norway, called the largest such procurement in recent European military history. Defence and space VerifiedEditor-read Swiss photonics foundry CCRAFT raises USD 7.8 million to scale TFLN chip output Neuchatel's CCRAFT, a CSEM spin-off running the world's first independent thin-film lithium niobate photonic chip foundry, raised USD 7.8 million led by QBIT Capital to expand manufacturing for AI and networking hardware. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read SWP Berlin says Arctic submarine cables are central to Europe's digital sovereignty SWP Berlin's Annegret Bendiek argues the EU's updated Arctic strategy must treat Arctic submarine cable routes, the shortest Europe-Asia link, as core to European digital sovereignty, a dimension she says current Arctic policy overlooks. Compute and infrastructurePolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted CEPA's Hidalgo Martinez says FCAS collapse leaves Spain without a sovereign fighter path CEPA's Natalia Hidalgo Martinez writes that Germany's unilateral cancellation of the EUR 100 billion FCAS fighter programme leaves Spain without a sovereign path to a next generation jet, reduced to the F-35, GCAP, Kaan or ageing 1980s aircraft. Defence and space VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted CEPA urges EU-wide drone traffic control, praises France's counter-drone lead CEPA's Ronan Murphy and Marta Granados Hernandez argue Europe needs real-time drone traffic control, citing France's Remote ID rules and telecom-based counter-drone deployment as ahead of Germany and the US. Policy and lawDefence and space VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted Quantum Systems raises USD 1.2 billion Series D with Airbus and Blackstone German drone maker Quantum Systems closed a USD 1.2 billion Series D round at an USD 8 billion valuation, co led by Airbus alongside US firms Blackstone, Noteus and Advent, more than doubling its prior valuation. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedAI-drafted EIC recommends EUR 10.4 million for Dublin's Pilot Photonics The European Innovation Council recommended up to EUR 10.4 million in blended grant and equity funding for Dublin's Pilot Photonics to scale up manufacturing of its photonic chips, though the grant agreement is not yet signed. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted IQM becomes first European quantum computer maker listed on Nasdaq Finland's IQM Quantum Computers completed its merger with Nasdaq-listed SPAC Real Asset Acquisition Corp on 1 July and began trading as IQMX on 2 July, keeping its Finnish parent company but adding a Delaware subsidiary and SEC oversight. Industry, investment and R&DCompute and infrastructure ReportedAI-drafted Netframe CEO urges EUR 130 billion plan for European sovereign cloud Valentin Przyluski, founder and chief executive of French infrastructure firm Netframe, argues Europe has one last window to build sovereign cloud capacity, proposing EUR 130 billion over ten years and 300 to 500 firms to reach 25 to 30 percent of the European market. Policy and lawIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedOpinionEditor-read VTT hits EU Chips JU ferroelectric memory milestone to cut AI GPU reliance VTT demonstrated wafer-uniform hafnium zirconium oxide ferroelectric memory under the EU Chips JU and Business Finland funded FAMES project (EUR 830 million total, VTT's share EUR 32 million), claiming up to 100 times AI compute efficiency gains. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read Spain confirms state-majority consortium to bid for an EU AI gigafactory Prime Minister Sánchez confirmed Spain's AI gigafactory consortium (SETT 47.99%, Telefónica, ACS and Santander 15.67% each, Multiverse Computing 4%, Catalonia 1%), backed by EUR 720 million from SETT plus EUR 300 million to EuroHPC. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedEditor-read Ruya Ventures closes EUR 43 million debut fund for European deep tech London based Ruya Ventures closed an oversubscribed EUR 43 million debut fund to back pre seed deep tech founders across Europe in AI, batteries, robotics, semiconductors and novel computing, often before their companies are incorporated. Industry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read Portugal launches Amalia, its first open-source sovereign AI model Portugal launched Amalia, an open-source large language model built on EuroLLM-9B by a university consortium coordinated by ARTE, funded with EUR 5.5 million in EU recovery funds and run on the Deucalion and MareNostrum 5 supercomputers. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedEditor-read Unseenlabs orders two more surveillance cubesats from Denmark's GomSpace GomSpace (Denmark) signed a EUR 2.2 million contract (24.4 million Swedish krona) to build two 8U cubesats for Unseenlabs (France), extending its maritime radio frequency detection constellation, with delivery due in 2027. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted EDRi says Digital Euro must embed privacy technically or risk rejection EDRi published a guest piece by member epicenter.works arguing the digital euro must build in technical privacy tools such as zero-knowledge proofs and threshold cryptography, warning that ECON Committee gains on privacy safeguards must survive the remaining legislative stages. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted EDRi says EU's AI billions lack tracking, calls for transparent public ledger EDRi publishes an Open Future analysis arguing the EU's cited EUR 200 billion in AI investment conflates budgets, guarantees and private targets, with no standardised tracking or disclosure of end beneficiaries, undermining scrutiny of public AI funding. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted CEPA: reliance on US frontier AI leaves European governments at Washington's mercy CEPA fellow Elly Rostoum writes that Washington's order forcing Anthropic to cut Fable 5 and Mythos 5 access for all foreign users, Europeans included, shows building on American frontier AI leaves allied governments at the mercy of a US-controlled dependency. Compute and infrastructurePolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted CCIA says 79 percent of EU tech founders hobbled by regulatory friction CCIA Europe's Daniel Friedlaender said its survey found 79 percent of EU tech founders hit by regulatory friction, with a quarter spending over 30 percent of budgets on compliance, as Digital Omnibus talks stall. Policy and law ReportedOpinionAI-drafted German procurement law adds digital sovereignty as tender criterion from July Germany's amended Section 128 GWB, in force from 1 July 2026, explicitly lists "digitale Souveränität" alongside security of supply as a criterion public buyers may weigh when awarding contracts, including for cloud and IT services. Policy and law VerifiedAI-drafted EURO-3C: EU contracts EUR 18,809,875 to 5 organisations on the map EUROpean 3C Networks for Secure Telco-Cloud-Edge (EURO-3C) started 2026-07-01 with status signed. EUR 18,809,875 of EU contribution is contracted to 5 organisations this publication tracks: Connectivity & subsea; IONOS, StackIT, Open Telekom Cloud; Nokia / Ericsson; OVHcloud; SUSE. Industry, investment and R&DCompute and infrastructure VerifiedEditor-read UK Export Finance launches GBP 50 billion Defence Export Fund UK Export Finance launched a GBP 50 billion Defence Export Fund, lifting its total lending and guarantee capacity to GBP 130 billion, to guarantee loans for British defence exporters and finance overseas buyers of UK defence products. Defence and spacePolicy and law VerifiedEditor-read CEPA fellow urges pragmatic digital sovereignty over costly decoupling CEPA fellow William Echikson argues Europe should pursue pragmatic digital sovereignty, building on strengths in lithography, chemicals and industrial data rather than costly decoupling from US and Asian technology. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted CEPA urges Europe to buy Ukraine's Flamingo missile to close strike capability gap CEPA's David Axe argues Europe should buy Ukraine's Fire Point FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile, priced near USD 500,000 against a Tomahawk's over USD 2 million, to close its deep strike gap after Washington cancelled Typhon-Tomahawk deployment to Germany, rather than wait years for domestic missiles. Defence and space VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted UK unveils Defence Investment Plan with GBP 15 billion armed forces boost The UK government unveiled its Defence Investment Plan on 30 June, adding GBP 15 billion to the armed forces, GBP 8.6 billion to the GCAP fighter programme with Italy and Japan, and a new GBP 50 billion UKEF defence export fund. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Gaussion raises EUR 24.5 million to scale data centre and EV power tech London-based Gaussion, a UCL and Faraday Institution spinout, raised EUR 24.5 million co-led by BGF and AlbionVC, taking total funding past EUR 38 million, to scale its MagLiB power-retrofit hardware for EVs, drones and data-centre backup power. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D ReportedEditor-read Four European cloud operators adopt CISPE's sovereignty certification framework ETIX, PHOCEA DC, Thesee Datacenter and Gigas self certified under CISPE's Sovereign and Resilient Cloud Service Certification, displaying its Declared badge for six months pending independent audits covering servers through to shareholding. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted ECIPE paper says Digital Fairness Act could cost EUR 29 billion a year ECIPE occasional paper by Hosuk Lee-Makiyama and Claudia Lozano argues the EU's proposed Digital Fairness Act would cost EUR 10 billion to EUR 29 billion a year, above the Commission's own EUR 7.9 billion harm estimate, and would favour large platforms over regional media. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted ECIPE argues DMA-style ex ante rules are premature for AI markets ECIPE director Fredrik Erixon and Dyuti Pandya argue in an ECIPE insight that applying the DMA's ex ante gatekeeper regime to AI is premature, since no AI gatekeeper has emerged, and urge monitoring and targeted remedies over broad new rules. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted ECIPE insight warns AI market gatekeeping evades all current EU rules ECIPE insight by Heidi Lund (National Board of Trade Sweden) argues AI's cumulative effect on market visibility and discoverability, not individual system harms, is a gatekeeping risk that EU competition, digital and AI rules all miss and fail to govern. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted Spain's SETT invests EUR 115.8 million in chip designer Openchip Spain's Council of Ministers authorised SETT to make a EUR 115.8 million equity investment, via the Recovery Plan's Next Tech facility, in Catalan firm Openchip to scale its high-performance, energy-efficient AI and HPC chip design. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Romania selects Israeli Rafael's SPYDER over European bids for air defence Romania's Ministry of National Defense selected Israel's Rafael to supply the SPYDER air defence system on 29 June, in a framework deal worth more than EUR 2 billion, rejecting rival bids from France's MBDA and Germany's Diehl. Defence and space ReportedAI-drafted CISPE welcomes DMA cloud gatekeeper findings but warns Google's omission distorts market CISPE welcomed the Commission's 25 June provisional finding that AWS and Azure are DMA gatekeepers, the first time cloud has been covered, but said excluding Google Cloud, despite its scale and Gemini's growth to near 750 million users, keeps an unfair advantage in place. Policy and lawCompute and infrastructure VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted CEPA's Lewis says EU tech sovereignty is wishful thinking, backs US partnership CEPA fellow James Lewis wrote that EU tech sovereignty is not achievable soon given fragmented governance, cost and time, and argued a transatlantic tech partnership with the United States is the more realistic route to European tech independence. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAbroadAI-drafted CCIA Europe tells EU copyright review not to fragment AI training rules CCIA Europe filed a formal response to the Commission's call for evidence on a targeted copyright initiative, arguing the 2019 Copyright Directive's text and data mining rules underpin the EU's AI ecosystem and should not be fragmented by member state licensing regimes. Policy and law ReportedOpinionAI-drafted Portugal commits EUR 200 million to Iberian EuroHPC AI gigafactory bid Portugal's Council of Ministers approved up to EUR 200 million to buy computing time in a joint Iberian bid, with Spain, for a EuroHPC AI gigafactory, matched by EuroHPC for EUR 400 million in first phase capital. Industry, investment and R&DCompute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted Bundestag clears EUR 7.2 billion for Germany to buy 40 percent KNDS stake The Bundestag's Budget Committee cleared up to EUR 7.2 billion on 26 June for Germany, via KfW, to buy a 40 percent KNDS stake, matching France's reduced 40 percent holding ahead of a planned Paris and Frankfurt dual listing. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Romania joins new NATO-linked Defence, Security and Resilience Bank Romania joined Canada, Luxembourg and other partners as a founding member of the new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, declared on the margins of the NATO summit in Ankara on 25 June 2026 to finance defence and resilience projects. Defence and space ReportedEditor-read Openchip and SUSE agree sovereign European RISC-V software stack Germany's SUSE and Spain's Openchip signed a memorandum of understanding to optimise SUSE Linux, Rancher and SUSE AI Factory for Openchip's forthcoming RISC-V accelerators, aiming for an all European hardware and open source software stack. Compute and infrastructureIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read Austria's Eustella launches sovereign AI agent app on EU cloud Austrian venture Eustella launched its consumer AI agent app on 25 June 2026, hosted on IONOS Cloud in the EU and built on open weight models including Mistral, positioning itself as a European alternative to US assistants for consumers. Industry, investment and R&D VerifiedEditor-read EuroHPC opens access to four European quantum computers EuroHPC JU opened access to four of its quantum computers, Euro-Q-Exa, Lucy, Piast-Q and VLQ, letting European researchers, public bodies and industry apply for compute time ahead of a first cut off on 1 August 2026. Compute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted EU breaks ground on permanent GOVSATCOM hub site in Cologne The Commission, EUSPA and Germany broke ground on the permanent GOVSATCOM hub in Cologne, one of two sites replacing the interim hub that has linked EU and national authorities to pooled secure satellite capacity since January 2026. Defence and spaceCompute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted EU Commission takes preliminary view AWS, Azure should be DMA gatekeepers European Commission tells Amazon and Microsoft it takes the preliminary view their AWS and Azure cloud services should be designated DMA gatekeepers, citing entrenched EU market lead, lock-in and bundled AI tools; both firms may contest before a final ruling. Policy and lawCompute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted DigitalEurope, SECIMAVI and AFNUM say Digital Omnibus must aid investment DigitalEurope's Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, SECIMAVI's Jean-Marie Le Guen and AFNUM's Stella Morabito say the Digital Omnibus must simplify GDPR, AI and cybersecurity rules to help close Draghi's EUR 800 billion investment gap. Industry, investment and R&DPolicy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted DigitalEurope, Adigital and AMETIC say EU digital rules must serve Spain's economy DigitalEurope's Bonefeld-Dahl, Adigital's Tello and AMETIC's Garcia argue in a joint article that EU digital rules must simplify, not add layers, for Spain's economy, where digital is 27% of GDP. Policy and law VerifiedOpinionAI-drafted Rheinmetall and GEK Terna sign Greek defence industrial partnership Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Greece's GEK Terna signed a binding Strategic Framework Agreement on 24 June 2026 covering tactical land systems and lifecycle support for the Hellenic Armed Forces, building sovereign Greek maintenance and production capacity. Defence and spaceIndustry, investment and R&D VerifiedAI-drafted Poland orders 46,000 SAFE-financed Grot A3 rifles from domestic maker Lucznik Poland's Armaments Agency signed a contract with domestic maker Fabryka Broni Lucznik on 24 June 2026 for 46,000 Grot A3 rifles (up to 100,000 with an annex), worth about PLN 600 million (EUR 140 million), financed through the EU's SAFE loan. Defence and space ReportedEditor-read Germany's cabinet eases data centre rules under energy efficiency law Germany's cabinet adopts a bill easing the Energieeffizienzgesetz, pushing data centres' renewable balancing deadline from 2027 to 2030 and raising the energy management certification threshold, projecting EUR 760 million a year in industry savings. Policy and lawCompute and infrastructure VerifiedAI-drafted