Concern about the capture of Europe’s digital infrastructure and the slow demise of our digital capabilities has been raised by multiple voices in the past two years – as it became increasingly clear to many of us that Europe’s reliance on digital regulation was not going to protect our assets and talents from extinction and migration. 

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) held a conference on the idea of digital sovereignty at the European Parliament in December 2023: Shaping Europe’s digital model – Foundation for European Progressive Studies. A subsequent event in Brussels in May 2024 gathered a number of like-minded people around the idea of Public Interest Digital Innovation – Beyond Big Tech Regulation: Funding & Scaling Public Goods.   

That original group came up with the EuroStack name and the idea of a multiparty conference in the European Parliament – held in September 2024: Toward European Digital Independence. This group includes:

• Cristina Caffarra
• Francesca Bria
• Alexandra Geese MEP
• Kai Zenner European Parliament
• Meredith Whittaker – President of Signal
• Audrey Tang – former Digital Minister of Taiwan

We circulated a Pitch paper in January 2025, then a Letter to the Commission last March with support from over 200 European digital/tech CEOs, and then a White Paper in May – also with support from industry.

The movement is steered by an informal non-lobby group of CEOs, industry participants, tech specialists, economists and tech advisors who are contributing in their personal capacity, as volunteers.

We have multiple pledges of support from all corners of the European digital industry,  and we are organizing support to the mission.