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Cristina Caffarra
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Cristina Caffarra

Economist and founder of EuroStack Initiative Foundation; keynoted Brussels summit on building a vertically integrated European compute stack.

Last refreshed: 23 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

Is the EuroStack a realistic industrial plan or an ambitious policy wish-list?

Timeline for Cristina Caffarra

#323 Apr

Delivered afternoon keynote proposing vertical European compute stack

European Tech Sovereignty: Brussels sovereignty summit opens without European AI builders
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Common Questions
What is the EuroStack Initiative and who is behind it?
The EuroStack Initiative Foundation proposes building a vertically integrated European digital stack across cloud, AI models, semiconductors, and platforms at an estimated cost of €300bn over a decade. It is chaired by economist Cristina Caffarra.Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung / EuroStack Initiative Foundation
What did Cristina Caffarra say at the Brussels sovereignty conference?
Cristina Caffarra delivered the afternoon keynote at Sovereign Tech Europe on 23 April 2026, framing European sovereignty as requiring a vertical compute stack rather than horizontal regulatory coordination.Source: Sovereign Tech Europe programme
How much would building a European tech stack actually cost?
The EuroStack proposal estimates roughly €300bn over a decade, against an EU digital-product dependency currently running above 80% of total digital consumption.Source: Bertelsmann Stiftung EuroStack report

Background

Cristina Caffarra is the founder and chair of the EuroStack Initiative Foundation, the think-tank behind Europe's most ambitious proposal for a vertically integrated digital infrastructure stack independent of US hyperscalers. She delivers the afternoon keynote at the inaugural Sovereign Tech Europe summit in Brussels on 23 April 2026, making it the first time the EuroStack framework is presented inside a Commission-adjacent policy forum at this scale .

The EuroStack proposal, developed with backing from institutions including Bertelsmann Stiftung, envisions roughly €300bn of investment over a decade to build a European alternative across cloud infrastructure, AI models, semiconductors, and digital platforms. The foundation frames sovereignty as a structural economic question rather than a regulatory one: so long as EU enterprises depend on US hyperscalers for compute and on US model providers for AI, regulatory instruments like the DMA and AI Act address symptoms without curing the dependency.

Caffarra's appearance at Sovereign Tech Europe placed her framing in direct tension with the Commission's own week: the €180m sovereign cloud framework awarded days earlier included a Google joint venture at the minimum sovereignty tier , while the EuroStack thesis argues precisely that hedged procurement of this kind perpetuates rather than reduces structural dependency.