Background

Henna Virkkunen is the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, the portfolio covering the EU's Sovereign Tech Europe agenda, the Cloud and AI Development Act (CAIDA), the Tech Sovereignty Package, and oversight of the Digital Omnibus Regulation. She is a Finnish politician and former member of the Finnish Parliament (the Eduskunta), representing the National Coalition Party, with several ministerial roles in Finland before her current appointment. Her portfolio unifies cloud sovereignty, AI governance, and security regulation under a single EVP, centralising digital policy authority in ways previous Commissions dispersed across multiple commissioners.

At the inaugural Sovereign Tech Europe conference in Brussels on 23 April 2026, Virkkunen did not attend in person; her cabinet sent Xavier Coget to deliver the Commission's keynote. Her first major public outing after that summit was co-chairing the fourth EU-Japan Digital Partnership Council in Brussels on 5 May 2026, producing joint workstreams on data strategy, AI safety, semiconductor cooperation, and the quantum initiative Q Neko.

Virkkunen is the Commission figure responsible for the Tech Sovereignty Package, which missed its first three adoption dates (25 March, 15 April, 27 May 2026) before the College of Commissioners took it up on 3 June 2026, its fourth scheduled date. As of publication, the College had not yet published its decision. Virkkunen is designated to present the package before the Telecom Council on 9 June 2026, the next political milestone for CAIDA and Chips Act II.