On Wednesday, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, unveiled the much-anticipated EU AI Continent Action Plan. The strategy builds on the AI Innovation Package of January 2024, the Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness, and the recent Competitiveness Compass and aims to harness the transformative power of AI to boost economic growth and social prosperity in the Union. To do so, it sets out five strategic areas for intervention and one clear objective: to turn Europe into a “leading AI continent”.
The AI Continent Action Plan shows the Commission's recognition of its challenges and outlines a corrective path. However, the broad scope of the plan does not seem to be backed up by significant resources and it may cause regulatory uncertainty by potentially leading to deregulation in pursuit of a simplification agenda.
The first two pillars of the AI Action Plan aim to boost Europe’s technological innovation by enhancing the infrastructure to create European AI models as alternatives to US and Chinese ones and offering innovators access to superior data for training. However, it is unclear whether there are adequate resources to match these aims, considering that only 10% of the €200 billion InvestAI initiative is new funds for AI gigafactories, with the remaining 90% relying on existing digital funds and public-private partnerships.
The third and fourth priorities aim to create preconditions for the widespread deployment and adoption of AI technology in Europe. The Commission introduces an “Apply AI” strategy for key industries and the public sector, repurposes the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) into “Experience Centres for AI,” introduces new R&I facilities, makes clear references to the Union of Skills, and pushes for rapid adoption of the EU Talent Pool initiative. Though a step in the right direction, these measures may not fully address the extent and nature of the skills gap in Europe.
The last priority fosters regulatory compliance and simplification concerning the AI Act. To do so, the Commission is creating an AI Act Service Desk to function as a central information hub and launching an Apply AI strategy public consultation to address challenges related to implementing the AI Act. However, with the regulation not entirely in place for another two years, the Commission’s commitment to enforcement is uncertain.
Overall, the AI Continent Action Plan is a step in the right direction. It acknowledges the urgent need for Europe to be bolder in pursuing its technological objectives and shows an awareness of the complex nature of today’s challenges. However, its broad scope may hinder effectiveness, and questions remain around the Commission’s regulatory role.
Giulia Torchio is a Policy Analyst in the Europe's Political Economy programme at the EPC.
The support the European Policy Centre receives for its ongoing operations, or specifically for its publications, does not constitute an endorsement of their contents, which reflect the views of the authors only. Supporters and partners cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.