Europe should become a tech power to secure its future prosperity and security, say three of the continent’s former PMs

• Sanna Marin, Matteo Renzi and Tony Blair have argued Europe must become a tech power or risk its future prosperity and security.
• In joint foreword to new TBI paper ‘Europe in the Age of AI', they recommend European leaders drive a continent-wide transformation.
• Recommendations include ensuring 10% of world's compute power is in Europe, accelerating AI adoption in key sectors, and a new continental energy programme.

Sanna Marin, Matteo Renzi and Tony Blair argue that coordinated action is needed to transform Europe into a competitive tech force in their joint foreword to TBI's new paper, ‘Europe in the Age of AI'.  They recommend that European heads of government provide the momentum and strategic direction required to drive a continent-wide transformation.

Without this, they argue, Europe risks being outspent, out-innovated and outperformed in a world increasingly defined by technological leadership. As a result, the continent will not be able to compete economically, and will risk its security, influence, and future prosperity.

In their foreword, Sanna Marin, Matteo Renzi and Tony Blair say:

“Europe has what it takes to meet this moment. It has the talent and the resources, but they must be used and supported effectively.

“Political leaders in Brussels and European capitals should put technology leadership at the heart of our security and prosperity strategy. Success in this endeavour is essential for guaranteeing Europe's ability to continue its way of life, deliver prosperity and defend its security.”

The paper sets out a positive vision of what a tech-enabled Europe can achieve, from more efficient public services and resilient democracies to cleaner energy, advanced manufacturing and world-leading research.

TBI emphasises that this is not about copying the US or China, but creating a stronger version of the continent, underpinned by a dynamic and innovative technology sector.

The report identifies four priority areas for reform:

1. Reforming Europe's regulations and decision making to create an innovation-friendly digital market and ensuring that Europe-wide questions have Europe-wide responses.
2. Building the physical and digital foundations for the AI era, including affordable, clean energy and compute capacity.
3. Accelerating AI adoption across key sectors such as health, education and manufacturing.
4. Strengthening Europe's global tech engagement to project influence and values worldwide.

Among its recommendations is for Europe to secure and maintain a minimum of 10 per cent of global compute capacity, aligning with its share of the global economy.

Compute – the infrastructure required to train and deploy AI models – is the backbone of the digital age, yet Europe currently lags far behind the US and China. Ensuring access to sufficient compute, the paper argues, is essential to Europe's competitiveness, resilience and security.

The paper also urges leaders to launch a continental energy programme to coordinate the construction of new nuclear power plants and accelerate permissions for renewables, grids and storage. TBI stresses that abundant, affordable energy will be vital to powering Europe's digital and industrial future, arguing that “there is no successful pathway towards global technology leadership that does not include this step.”

From advanced manufacturing and life sciences to digital government and education, the report points to multiple areas of existing strength that could underpin a renewed European competitiveness if the continent acts with unity and strength.

Please find an embargoed copy of the report here