“We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices.”

The package’s centerpiece, the EU's Cloud and AI Development Act, includes a provision allowing the Commission to vet countries on whether they are trustworthy enough to serve Europe’s sensitive public sectors.

But the real focus of the proposed legislation is on measures aimed at helping European companies grow into serious contenders capable of taking on U.S. Big Tech.

If adopted, the package will direct public money toward products that contribute to Europe’s economy and independence from foreign firms; cut red tape for data centers; beef up research and innovation through “leadership initiatives”; incentivize countries to share digital capacities in a new “Eurocloud” forum; and require EU governments to come up with national strategies to boost the adoption of cutting-edge tech, including AI.

The package will also seek to ramp up the bloc’s demand for advanced chips — a response to criticism by the industry — with a series of industrial initiatives to revise a 2023 chips law.

The Commission’s proposals, which will now go to national governments and the European Parliament for negotiations on the final version, are a reply to rising concerns that relying on American technology is a vulnerability.