Leading European carmakers including Volvo Cars, Stellantis and Volkswagen have warned that the European Commission’s proposals on technology sovereignty could raise costs and narrow markets, the Financial Times reported.
The European Commission presented its technology sovereignty package three weeks ago. The measures aim to stimulate domestic technology development and introduce new digital public procurement requirements to reduce reliance on major U.S. technology providers. Under the current proposal a four-tier rating framework would assess technologies according to their exposure to foreign influence.
Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive officer of Volvo Cars, told the Financial Times that Europe would be the only loser if the EU imposed restrictions on American technologies. He added that his company’s competitiveness relies heavily on transatlantic partners such as Google and Nvidia.
Ned Curic, chief technology officer at Stellantis, warned that region-specific technology frameworks would increase operating costs and ultimately shrink markets. Oliver Blume, chief executive officer of Volkswagen, also urged caution, saying that while data protection is important the industry needs freedom to innovate.
These concerns come as the European auto industry is already under pressure: manufacturers are investing large sums into the shift to electric vehicles while facing growing competition from Chinese rivals. Vehicles are increasingly software-defined — from battery management and safety systems to autonomous driving — and these capabilities currently depend significantly on U.S. semiconductors, artificial intelligence solutions and cloud services.
The debate has been intensified by recent developments in U.S. export controls: the United States banned exports of certain artificial-intelligence models from Anthropic on national security grounds, a move that has reinvigorated worries in Europe about technological decoupling.
The European Commission responded to criticism by saying the package is intended to boost investment, innovation and growth while remaining open to reliable partners. Stéphane Séjourné, the Commission’s vice-president responsible for industrial policy, told an interview that the EU’s strength is openness, but it cannot afford to be naive in the future.
The discussion is ongoing: carmakers argue that stricter rules would disadvantage Europe by increasing costs and limiting access to key technologies, whereas the Commission emphasizes building European capacity and attracting investment.
