In a comprehensive strategic assessment published on September 14, 2026, leading European economists and researchers issued an urgent warning regarding the continent's deepening artificial intelligence deficit. The alliance, comprising German Council of Economic Experts chair Monika Schnitzer, Ifo Institute president Clemens Fuest, former EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, and prominent computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, outlined severe structural weaknesses. The authors warned that without decisive action, Europe risks systemic technological subordination to dominant foreign tech corporations.
The report presents stark figures regarding global physical infrastructure. As of 2026, the European Union accounts for merely five percent of global data center compute capacity. In contrast, the United States commands 78 percent of global capacity, while China controls approximately 11 percent. To establish baseline technological resilience, the expert group argues that Europe must triple its global share to at least 15 percent by 2030.
Securing this expansion will require immense capital expenditure, which the report estimates at 1.3 trillion euros by 2030. These funds are needed not only for specialized compute clusters, but critically for modernizing the underlying energy grid. The analysis calculates a requirement for an additional 45 gigawatts of data center electrical capacity, highlighting that clean power generation and grid transmission represent critical bottlenecks for any credible European deployment.
The disparity extends beyond physical hardware into commercial model development. Clemens Fuest highlighted that all European developers of foundation and domain-specific models combined currently generate less than two percent of the revenue achieved by just two leading US competitors. This economic imbalance severely constrains local developers, depriving them of the reinvestment capital needed to train and deploy next-generation architectures.
Emphasizing national security and industrial policy, Vestager and Ischinger warned that total reliance on foreign computing platforms compromises strategic autonomy and regulatory enforcement. The experts urged member states and EU authorities to coordinate joint capital vehicles and accelerate approvals for infrastructure projects to prevent European industry from being permanently sidelined.