REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS The Digital Europe Programme: Main findings of the interim evaluation
Date: 2025-12-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, artificial intelligence, data processing, digital literacy, digital single market, digital technology, information security, information society, innovation, technological change

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.12.2025  COM(2025) 771 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS The Digital Europe Programme: Main findings of the interim evaluation  {SWD(2025) 420 final}  
 
 
Contents 

1. 

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 

2.  Towards increased competitiveness and digital autonomy: Flagship Achievements of the programme .............. 4 

3.  A highly relevant and flexible programme in a rapidly changing context ............................................................ 9 

4.  The programme’s benefits to organisations in the EU and beyond..................................................................... 10 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

Strategic investments to create EU added value ................................................................................................. 11 

Synergies with other EU Funding programmes .................................................................................................. 12 

Participation in the programme ........................................................................................................................... 13 

Simplification...................................................................................................................................................... 15 

In the future ......................................................................................................................................................... 17 

9.1 Digital Transformation in a new context ........................................................................................................... 17 

9.2 Future digital investments ................................................................................................................................. 19 

9.3 Digital in the next MFF ..................................................................................................................................... 21 

10.  Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Glossary 

Abbreviation 
ECF 
EDICs 
EDIHs 
ERDF 
HPC 
JU 
MFF 
SO 
STEP 
TEFs 
RRF 

Term 
European Competitiveness Fund  
European Digital Infrastructure Consortia 
European Digital Innovation Hubs 
European Regional Development Fund 
High-performance computing  
Joint Undertaking 
Multiannual Financial Framework  
Specific Objective  
Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform 
Testing and Experimentation Facilities  
Recovery and Resilience Facility 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.  Introduction  

The  Digital  Europe  programme1  (Digital  Europe)  provides  strategic  investments  into  the 
deployment  of  digital  infrastructures  and  technologies,  contributing  to  the  EU’s  digital 
transformation, and to building the EU’s digital autonomy and competitiveness on the global 
stage.  

The  Digital  Europe  programme  has  a  total  budget  of  EUR  8.16  billion  (2021-2027),  which  is 
relatively modest for its ambitious goal to foster the deployment of key digital technologies and 
infrastructures,  their  best  use  for  critical  sectors,  and  the  related  advanced  digital  skills 
development with the overall goal of contributing to increased strategic autonomy, security and 
competitiveness across the EU. To achieve these general goals, the programme supports activities 
in  six  specific objectives:  (i) high  performance computing (HPC), (ii) cloud, data and  artificial 
intelligence, (iii) cybersecurity, (iv) advanced digital skills, (v) the adoption and best use of key 
digital technologies and (vi) semiconductors.  

Activities funded by Digital Europe have also supported the implementation of EU Regulations, 
and Directives such as the Chips Act2, the AI Act3, the Cyber Resilience Act4, the Cyber Solidarity 
Act5, the NIS2 directive6,  the Digital Services Act7, the Digital Markets Act8 and the Interoperable 
Europe Act9. The programme has also contributed to major strategic EU initiatives, such as the AI 
Continent Action Plan10 and the Apply AI strategy11. 

Before  the  launch  of  Digital  Europe  in  2021,  there  was  no  EU-level  programme  specifically 
targeting specifically digital deployment to complement the existing R&I funding programmes. 
Consequently, there was an EU investment gap in the deployment and take-up phase of digital, 
particularly  for 
technologies  and 
large-scale,  multi-country  deployments  of  digital 
infrastructures, as well as large support for developing advanced digital skills, to systematically 
strengthen EU’s competitiveness.  

At the time the programme was launched in 2021, EU-funded supercomputers were absent from 
the global top 10, underscoring Europe’s significant gap in competitiveness in high-performance 
computing  on a global scale.  There was also a  barrier to  access  quality-controlled data  and no 
coordinated approach to strengthen expertise in AI and boost the uptake of AI across the EU. The 
EU also relied heavily on non-EU suppliers for its semiconductor needs with a share of 10% of 
the global semiconductor market as opposed to a share of 33% by the US and a share of 26% by 
China12.  In  addition,  there  was  no  coordinated  approach  across  Member  States  to  be  better 
prepared  and  tackle  large-scale  cyberattacks  in  a  coordinated  manner.  Finally,  the  EU  faced  a 

1 Digital Europe programme (2021–2027) | EUR-Lex 
2 Regulation - 2023/1781 - EN - EUR-Lex 
3 Regulation - EU - 2024/1689 - EN - EUR-Lex 
4 Regulation - 2024/2847 - EN - EUR-Lex 
5 Regulation - EU - 2025/38 - EN - EUR-Lex 
6 Directive - 2022/2555 - EN - EUR-Lex 
7 Regulation - 2022/2065 - EN - DSA - EUR-Lex 
8 Regulation - 2022/1925 - EN - EUR-Lex 
9 Regulation - EU - 2024/903 - EN - EUR-Lex 
10 The AI Continent Action Plan | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
11 Apply AI Strategy | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
12 BCG-x-SIA-Strengthening-the-Global-Semiconductor-Value-Chain-April-2021_1.pdf 

3 

 
 
 
 
severe  digital  skills  shortage  and  an  inadequate  uptake  of  digital  solutions  in  areas  of  public 
interest. 

Since the launch of Digital Europe, the increased investments in these key technological areas have 
proven  to  be  highly  effective.  For  instance,  three  of  the  EU  funded  high  performance 
supercomputers are now among the fastest in the world, with the recently deployed first exascale 
supercomputer JUPITER securing fourth place13 in the TOP50014 ranking. Since the beginning of 
the  programme,  significant  progress  has  also  been  made  to  grow  EU’s  capacities  in  AI  and 
cybersecurity, to promote the uptake of digital technologies and to create a workforce equipped 
with advanced digital skills.  

The Digital Europe programme complements other EU funding programmes. It is coherent with 
the digital part of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF2 digital), Erasmus+15, the Recovery and 
Resilience Facility (RRF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Synergies are 
particularly  strong  with  Horizon  Europe,  which  complements  and  extends  the  programme’s 
activities by bridging the gap between research and deployment. For example, Horizon Europe’s 
research in quantum technologies is directly integrated into the quantum computing infrastructure 
procured and deployed under Digital  Europe. Similarly,  the sectorial  data spaces  funded under 
Digital Europe leverage innovations from Horizon Europe, for instance, of projects that develop 
digital  technologies,  methods,  architectures  and  processes  for  user-friendly,  safe,  trustworthy, 
transparent, and environmentally sustainable collection, storage, and processing of data.  

The proposal for the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)16 in the next Multi-annual Financial 
Framework (MFF) aims to strengthen this research-to-deployment pipeline in the ‘digital window’ 
of  the  fund,  aligning  with  stakeholders’  call  for  a  fast  track  from  research  to  implementation. 
The Horizon Europe programme for 
a 
standalone programme but with a structure that is closely linked to the ECF, providing seamless 
support to researchers and innovators from ideas to start-up to scale-up.  

innovation will 

research 

remain 

and 

2.  Towards 

increased  competitiveness  and  digital  autonomy: 

flagship 

achievements of the programme 

The Digital Europe programme has delivered key flagship achievements in each of its specific 
objectives. 

Investments under specific objective 1 (HPC) have been effective in setting up competitive HPC 
capacity for the EU by investing together with Member States in the acquisition and upgrade of 
infrastructure,  by  supporting  related  skills  and  expertise  and  by  facilitating  high  impact  HPC 
deployments.  

➢  Digital  Europe  has  funded  the  first  exascale  supercomputer  JUPITER17  –  the  first 
supercomputer  in  the  EU  to  exceed  the  threshold  of  one  quintillion18  calculations  per 

13 June 2025 | TOP500 
14 Home - | TOP500 
15 Under specific objective 4, Digital Europe complements the digital horizontal priority of the  Erasmus+ programme. 
16 The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy Choose Europe to start and scale: EUR-Lex - 52025SC0555 - EN - EUR-Lex 
17 JUPITER - Exascale for Europe 
18 One billion billion calculations per second 

4 

 
 
 
 
second – ranking in fourth place on the TOP 500 list of the fastest supercomputers in the 
world19  and  holding  the  top  spot  in  the  ranking  for  the  most  energy-efficient 
supercomputing systems (Green500)20.   

In addition, two high impact deployments in HPC have been launched. 

➢  Firstly, 19 AI factories21 are being deployed across the EU as well as AI factory antennas22 
in  Member  States,  Iceland,  Switzerland,  Moldova,  Macedonia,  Serbia  and  the  UK  to 
provide  AI  start-ups  and  other  organisations  with  access  to  HPC,  to  support  SMEs  and 
other  organisations  in  adopting  HPC,  to  ensure  collaboration  between  the  public  and 
private sectors in order to foster an AI ecosystem and to develop AI based products and 
services.  

➢  Secondly, the Destination Earth platform was released in summer 2024. It provides digital 
models  of  the  earth  of  groundbreaking  resolution  allowing  users  to  timely  predict  and 
manage weather and climate extremes. The unique features of Destination Earth support 
Europe in its role as a global leader in adapting to and mitigating the impact of climate 
change. 

Investments under specific objective 2 (Cloud, Data and AI) support the uptake of AI in the public 
and  private  sectors.  As  in  specific  objective  1,  there  has  been  a  dual  focus  on  building  key 
infrastructures as well as on concrete deployment acceleration.  

➢  In  terms  of  infrastructure,  four  large-scale  sectorial  AI  Testing  and  Experimentation 
Facilities (TEFs)23 have been established. These facilities provide large-scale, real-world 
environments  to  test  and  refine  AI  models,  ensuring  that  it  is  validated,  optimised,  and 
prepared  for  deployment.  The  four  existing  TEFs  operate  in  the  areas  of  health, 
manufacturing,  smart  cities  (including  urban  transport,  mobility  and  mobility),  and 
agriculture.   

➢  In  addition,  Common  European  Data  Spaces  have  been  deployed  or  are  under 
deployment in several areas/sectors in cultural heritage, health, language, mobility, media, 
manufacturing,  smart  communities,  energy,  tourism,  skills,  agriculture,  and  the  Green 
Deal24. These data spaces, which at the same time improve the exchange and use of ley data 
and  respect  EU  rules  and  values  for  personal  data  and  consumer  protection,  enable 
trustworthy data transactions between participants and allow data users to create innovate 
products, and services or develop artificial intelligence tools.  

➢  Furthermore, the uptake of AI, in particular by startups, SMEs and public services, is being 
supported through the AI on Demand Platform (AIoD) offering trusted AI tools, expertise, 
and market-ready solutions as well as the EU Cloud Marketplace offering trusted cloud 
services.  

19 Home - | TOP500 
20 June 2025 | TOP500 
21 7 AI factories selected in December 2024, six in March 2025 and six in October 2025. 
22 Antennas will collaborate closely with AI Factories to provide national AI communities with secure remote access to world-

class, AI-optimised supercomputing resources. 

23 Sectorial AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities under the Digital Europe Programme | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
24 The deployment process of the Green Deal data space has been initiated with the launch of the SAGE project in March 2025, 

with deployment based on the identified use cases foreseen by February 2028. 

5 

 
 
 
➢  Current and future activities of the programme support the development of Generative AI 
applications  and  their  uptake  by  businesses  and  the  public  sector  to  support  the 
implementation of the Apply AI Strategy25. The Work programme 2025-2027, for instance, 
funds  the  integration  of  Generative  AI  into  the  sectorial  TEFs,  activities  to  strengthen 
Generative AI applications in the public sector, to sustain the use of AI in health and to 
support the development of virtual worlds testbeds.  

Investments under specific objective 3 (cybersecurity) have advanced cybersecurity capabilities, 
as well as the deployment of advanced cybersecurity solutions.  

➢  In  terms  of  capabilities,  26  cybersecurity  infrastructures  were  successfully  procured 
(CyberHubs), including two cross-border CyberHubs, in line with the targets. A network 
of 27 national coordination centres (NCCs) was set up across the EU to boost cybersecurity 
capabilities. Stakeholders of the NCCs indicated that the most tangible benefit gained so 
far  from  EU  intervention  in  cybersecurity  include  the  standardisation  of  practices, 
enhanced cybersecurity and improved cross-border collaboration.  

➢  In terms of deployment of solutions, the first 12 complex cybersecurity tools providing key 
services, such as infrastructure and application vulnerability scanning, phishing mitigation 
and DDoS mitigators, have been deployed, with first user communities in the health sector 
getting access to these tools.  

Investments  under  specific  objective 4 (advanced digital  skills)  have supported the design  and 
delivery of advanced digital skills training and education programmes, also in alignment with the 
objectives of the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027). These include specialised education 
programmes,  job  placements,  short  term  training  courses,  skills  in  semiconductors,  the 
cybersecurity skills academy and activities to boost digital skills in young people, in particular 
girls.  

➢  By the end of 2024, more than 50 master’s programmes and 530 short courses were being 
offered. Over 20700 people were trained in highly specialised digital fields, such as AI, 
cybersecurity,  semiconductors  or  robotics.  A  study  shows  that  individuals  value  these 
training activities (beyond user contributions) at EUR 656 -1 015, with SMEs valuing these 
trainings at EUR 6 500 -14 400, showing that these skills initiatives have a perceived value 
for users. 

➢  In  addition,  in  the  context  of  advanced  digital  skills  development,  a  wide  ecosystem  of 
more than 430 universities and training providers across Member States was established, 
paving the way for cross-border accreditation, industry cooperation and student and teacher 
mobility. 

Investments  under  specific  objective  5  have  promoted  the  adoption  and  use  of  key  digital 
technologies  in  three  main  work  strands:  launching  the  European  Digital  Innovation  Hubs 
(EDIHs), reinforcing interoperability and the digital transformation of the public sector, and setting 
up centres, IT systems and platforms for a safer internet. 

25 Apply AI Strategy | Shaping Europe’s digital future 

6 

 
 
 
➢  Over 150 EDIHs were set up in 90% of European regions by the end of 2024 as well as in 
candidate  and  potential  candidate  countries26,  offering  test-before-invest  and  other  services. 
The EDIHs have reached over 800 000 attendees through 5 794 events, delivering over 29 000 
services to over 54 600 companies related to training (30%), networking (27%), technology 
testing (25%), and funding (17%). Users are positive about the level and quality of services 
received, valuing these services at a perceived value of EUR 8 000 – 15 300 per organisation. 
➢  The  EU  Digital  Identity  Wallet  has  been  piloted  involving  around  360  public  and  private 
organisations from 26 Member States as well as Iceland, Norway and Ukraine across 11 use-
cases (including identification for government services and bank account opening, payments, 
mobile driving licenses and electronic signatures)27. 

➢  The  Interoperable  Europe  work  strand  developed  a  strong  foundation  for  the  digital 
transformation of the public sector (in 2024 the Interoperable Europe Portal disseminated more 
than 2 900 interoperability solutions for public administrations) and strengthened cross-border 
collaboration  (e.g.  through  the  GovTech4all  Framework  Partnership  Agreement28  bringing 
together 32 digital partners from  20 European countries), enabling governments  to  develop 
citizen-centred, and future-proof digital public services. 

➢  The network of Safer Internet Centres together with the Better Internet for Kids Portal and 
the European Digital Media Observatory have been established across the EU to ensure a safe 
digital environment for children and to combat disinformation. 

Investments under specific objective 6 have strengthened Europe’s semiconductor capacities.  

➢  A  EUR  3.7  billion  investment  has  been  made  into  state-of-the-art  facilities  to  test, 
experiment,  and  validate  leading-edge  chip  technologies  and  designs  covering  a  wide 
variety of technologies from leading edge node chips to heterogeneous integration (Chips 
pilot lines). 

➢  30  Competence  Centres  in  all  Member  States  and  Norway  were  set  up  to  enhance 
technical expertise and develop a skilled workforce for the semiconductor sector. These 
centres are providing businesses, especially SMEs and start-ups, with essential resources 
to develop semiconductor solutions, including support, training, and access to large-scale 
infrastructure facilities, such as the pilot lines and the future Design Platform. 

Support to start-ups and SMEs 

In  addition  to  grants  and  procurements,  the  Digital  Europe  programme  combined  with  the 
InvestEU guarantee provides financial support to innovative digital start-ups and SMEs through 
equity and quasi-equity.  

26 In July 2024, 18 EDIHs offering a wide range of specialised digital transformation services have been invited to join the EDIH 

network from the following countries: Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine. 

27 A second set of pilots was launched in September 2025 including together with the first set of pilots in total 500 
public authorities and private companies across almost all member states as well as Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina,  Iceland  and  Norway.  These  pilots  cover  approximately  20  different  use-cases  (including 
identification for government services and bank account opening, payments, mobile driving licenses, digital travel 
credentials and electronic signatures). 
28 GovTech4All | Interoperable Europe Portal 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
➢  By the end of 2024, EUR 83.63 million were committed under the Investment Platform 
for Strategic Digital Technologies to  seven venture capital  funds, which supported 38 
innovative organisations (operating mostly in AI).  

➢  In addition, EUR 67 million were committed under the Chips Fund to support 19 small 

organisations and startups specialised in semiconductors.  

Cross-cutting activities 

A specific legal instrument, the European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs), has been 
introduced by the Digital Decade Policy Programme decision29, to expand the array of tools to 
implement multi-country projects. EDICs are flexible and relatively quick to set up, and help pool 
resources between Member States and the EU. The first three EDICs were set up in the area of 
Large Language Models, smart  cities and blockchain (the Alliance for Language  Technologies 
EDIC30,  the  Local  Digital  Twins  towards  the  CitiVERSE  EDIC31,  and  the  EDIC  for  European 
Blockchain partnership and European blockchain service infrastructure)32.      

With cutting-edge infrastructures now operational–ranging  from HPC, AI testing  environments 
and trusted data spaces to semiconductor facilities for industry to test, experiment and validate 
new breakthrough technologies–European public and private organisations are able to  innovate 
more quickly33, lower costs by adopting advanced technologies34, and reduce dependence on non-
EU  providers35.  This  expanded  access  to  cutting-edge  capabilities  and  infrastructure  across  EU 
Member States empowers organisations, especially SMEs and public administrations, to compete 
in markets where speed, quality, and adherence to EU standards are key competitive advantages. 

The  final  Digital  Europe  work  programmes  (2025-2027)  will  invest  EUR  3.2  billion  in  the 
continuation of the six specific objectives while also introducing new activities to respond to, for 
instance, the rapidly evolving generative AI technology. 

29 Decision - 2022/2481 - EN - EUR-Lex 
30 The Alliance for Language Technologies EDIC - ALT-EDIC 
31 Implementing decision - 2024/459 - EN - EUR-Lex 
32 Implementing decision - EU - 2024/1432 - EN - EUR-Lex 
33 For instance, 56% of organisations using the services of the EDIH, and 52% of beneficiaries reported increased 

innovation and productivity growth rates.  

34 For instance, 39.1% of EDIH users and 48.1% of beneficiaries reported lower costs due to digitalisation as result of participating 

in the programme. 

35 For instance, 16% of EDIH end-user and 41.7% of beneficiaries report decreased dependencies on non-EU providers. 

8 

 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                         Table 1: Overview of State of Play 

>  EUR 3 
billion 
committed 
budget

> 600 projects 
with  

> 6 500 
participants in 
in 37 
countries

Reaching 

55 100 
companies 
and 25 800 
public 
organisations 
as end users 

Creating an 
estimated 
leverage effect 
of € 2.3-7 
billion (grants)

3.  A highly relevant and flexible programme in a rapidly changing context  

The interim evaluation of the Digital Europe programme highlights that Digital Europe is highly 
relevant for addressing current and  emerging challenges. Across the six  specific objectives 
(SOs)  of  Digital  Europe,  there  is  a  broad  recognition  of  the  role  of  the  programme  in  driving 
Europe’s  digital  transformation  and  maintaining  its  global  competitiveness,  with  all  objectives 
being  either mostly  or very relevant  both  for stakeholders’ current  and  emerging needs, with  a 
particular strong stakeholder support for cybersecurity and digital skills. 
In addition to responding to stakeholder needs, the Digital Europe programme has proven to be 
flexible and in alignment with technological, societal, and economic developments.  

➢  During  the  implementation  of  the  Digital  Europe  programme,  a  significant  gap  in 
semiconductor capabilities—exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and related supply 
chain  disruptions—was  identified.  To  address  this,  the  Chips  Act36  introduced  a  new, 
specific  objective  to  the  programme,  integrating  semiconductor  development  into  its 
strategic priorities and strengthening Europe’s resilience in critical technologies. 

➢  Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the ensuing heightened risk of large-scale 
cybersecurity threats led to the support for the EU Cyber Solidarity Act37, which introduced 
the  Cyber  Emergency  Mechanism  into  Digital  Europe  to  increase  preparedness  and 
response to large-scale cybersecurity incidents.  

➢  More  recently,  the  need  to  further  develop  enhanced  AI  capabilities  in  EU  funded 
supercomputers has  given rise to  the  AI Factories38 and AI GigaFactories initiatives, 
which build on the progress achieved in SO1 (HPC).  

36 Regulation - 2023/1781 - EN - EUR-Lex 
37 Regulation - EU - 2025/38 - EN - EUR-Lex 
38 AI Factories | Shaping Europe’s digital futurehttps://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/ai-factories 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Therefore, three of the major budget re-orientations in this MFF have been absorbed by the 
Digital  Europe  programme  demonstrating  the  strategic  importance  and  relevance  of  the 
programme and its areas of investments in a rapidly changing context. Activities funded 
by Digital Europe have also supported the implementation of EU regulations adopted in the 
field of digital in response to the new challenges arising during the MFF .The programme 
has, for instance, facilitated compliance with the AI Act by funding services and tools for AI 
providers  to  comply  with  the  AI  Act  (AI  innovation  accelerator),  testing  mechanisms  (AI 
regulatory sandboxes and testing and experimentation facilities) and an EU database on high-
risk  AI  systems.  The  programme  has  supported  the  Digital  Services  Act  and  the  Digital 
Markets  Act  by funding  IT systems  to  contribute to  their enforcement, e.g. to  facilitate the 
collaboration among Member States, the Commission and the Digital Services Coordinators, 
the gathering and analysis of data and the setting up of a transparency platform, which gathers 
statements of reasons (hosting services’ statements to inform users of the content moderation 
decisions they take and explain the reasons behind those decisions). Digital Europe also has 
helped organisations, in particular SMEs and start-ups, comply with the NIS2 directive and the 
Cyber Resilience Act. Besides Digital Europe also contributes to EU policy programmes. First 
and  foremost,  it  implements  the  multi  country  projects  of  the  Digital  Decade  Policy 
programme39 and contributes to the Digital Decade targets for 2030. The programme’s specific 
objective 4 also contributes to the Digital Education Action plan. In addition, the programme 
has also supported the digital COVID certificate issued over 2.3 billion times to facilitate safe 
travel and support Europe’s tourism industry during the pandemic.  Altogether Digital Europe 
has demonstrated the importance of having a policy-driven programme that can support 
EU policy in particular areas.  

4.  The programme’s benefits to organisations in the EU and beyond  

Beneficiaries40 of the programme and users of its  funded infrastructure and services report that 
tangible benefits have already emerged, with expectations of even greater impact in the near future. 
A  targeted  survey  conducted  in  mid-2024  reveals  that  this  initiative  has  not  only  facilitated  a 
unified  pan-European  approach  in  the  digital  domain  but  has  also  unlocked  deployment 
opportunities previously inaccessible to participating organisations. 

Furthermore, beneficiaries have noted significant advantages in areas such as market positioning, 
networking  and  organisational  development.  For  instance,  58%  enhanced  their  institutional 
reputation, 55% strengthened strategic partnerships at the EU and international levels, 53% gained 
access to new academic partners, 46% to new industry partners, 44% expanded their workforce, 
and 38% launched innovative products or services.  

The initial phase of the programme has centred on establishing infrastructure, services, and digital 
tools, while the coming years will prioritise not only enhancing and expanding these infrastructures 
but also ensuring their broad accessibility and uptake across the EU (and in some cases beyond). 

39 2030 digital decade policy programme | EUR-Lex 
40  Beneficiaries  refer  to  organisations  receiving  (in  this  context  Digital  Europe)  grants  while  (end)  users  are  individuals  or 

organisations using the funded infrastructures, services and tools. 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This  strategic  shift  is  expected  to  drive  a  substantial  rise  in  user  adoption,  as  the  programme 
transitions  from  foundational  development  to  widespread  usage  of  the  new  infrastructures  and 
services.  First  users  have  already  begun  to  demonstrate  measurable  benefits,  underscoring  the 
potential for broader impact in the future. 

Users  of  the  infrastructures,  tools  and  services  funded  by  Digital  Europe  have  experienced 
strengthened collaboration and networking opportunities (69%), improved access to technology 
testing and innovation support (65%), and to AI technologies (49%), and increased efficiency and 
automation of processes (48%).  

In terms of broader objectives, stakeholders view the programme as effective in boosting the EU's 
global competitiveness, in digitally transforming public organisations and in ensuring the EU’s 
strategic autonomy. While to date the programme has produced these benefits to some degree, it 
is expected to do so to a greater extent over the next five years.  

5.  Strategic investments to create EU added value 

The Digital Europe programme does much more than support the deployment of individual digital 
solutions: it applies  strategic investments thereby creating digital ecosystems,  with  a strategic 
vision of digital transformation across the EU to ensure its digital autonomy and competitiveness 
on the global stage. The programme has supported complex large-scale deployments that Member 
States could not bring about on their own, ensured cooperation across Member States to tackle 
cross-border challenges and offered comprehensive services across the EU through its networks.  

Digital  Europe  most  prominently  provides  financial  additionality  by  pooling  and  leveraging 
resources at a scale that may not be readily available to Member States or prioritised at the national 
level, particularly for cross-border initiatives and large-scale projects that aim to increase digital 
capacity at EU level. 

Stakeholders  also  indicated  that  Digital  Europe  provides  financial  means  on  a  scale  and 
consistency not often available in national and regional schemes. Conversely, the programme is 
not viewed as having better funding conditions compared to national/regional instruments by both 
applicants and beneficiaries. 
Behavioural  additionality  -  the  positive  impact  of  Digital  Europe  on  the  behaviour  of  the 
supported  organisations  of  Digital  Europe  -  is  taking  shape  and  is  expected  to  increase  as  the 
programme’s activities are being further implemented. It has materialised mainly in the form of 
increased cross-border cooperation, which is at the heart of many Digital Europe funded activities, 
such as the EDICs. 

Stakeholders also indicated that Digital Europe improved access to and cooperation with partners 
from other countries in the EU and beyond and supported the creation of a European ecosystem 
for digital technologies.  

Behavioural  additionality has also  materialised in  the form  of  both  larger and smaller  Member 
States aligning with EU strategies in strategic sectors. Larger Member States and key industrial 
players,  often  with  already  existing  strategies  and  infrastructure  in  place,  align  with  European 
initiatives (e.g. Belgium’s IMEC or German’s Fraunhofer participation in the Chips for Europe 

11 

 
 
 
 
Initiative) and leverage legal  frameworks, such as the European Chips  Act  to  consolidate their 
national  goals.  At  the  same  time,  smaller  Member  States  are  influenced  by  these  European 
frameworks  to  make  specific  critical  technologies  a  priority  (for  instance,  the  Czech  National 
Semiconductor Cluster41, Finland's national strategy 'Chips from the North' or the Maltese Chip 
Start EU programme)42. 
There  is  also  some  first  evidence  for  output  additionality.  For  instance,  the  end-user  survey 
revealed that almost half of the surveyed students or participants in skills trainings strongly agree 
that the trainings funded by Digital Europe are unique in the EU, and 64% strongly agree that they 
are  more  affordable  than  alternatives.  Around  61%  of  users  of  different  services  (HPC,  skills, 
EDIHs and TEFs) (strongly) agree that the services are more affordable than alternatives and that 
they are unique in the EU (54%).  

6.  Synergies with other EU funding programmes 

In addition to Digital Europe, the EU channels significant funds into the digital transformation in 
other ways too. An estimate of EU spending on the digital transition43 showed that EUR 208.1 
billion  of  the  EU  budget  (including  NextGenerationEU)  was  dedicated  to  the  digital  transition 
between 2021 and 2024, representing almost 15.1% of the total EU budget with almost all EU 
funding programmes contributing to some degree to the digital transformation. The programmes 
with the most funding dedicated to the digital transformation were the RRF, regional policy and 
Horizon Europe.  
While  the  Digital  Europe  programme  is  designed  as  a  strategic,  pan-European  initiative  that 
systematically addresses the EU’s digital transformation aimed at fostering strategic autonomy, 
regional policies and the RRF adopt a more fragmented and localised approach to digitalisation, 
often prioritising  immediate, country-specific needs  over the creation of cohesive, cross-border 
digital ecosystems.  
On the other hand, synergies with Horizon Europe are key to ensuring that the latest scientific and 
technological  breakthroughs  are  rapidly  translated  into  practical  applications,  deployed  across 
industries,  and  adopted  by  public  and  private  stakeholders.  They  are  deeply  anchored  into  the 
design of the Digital Europe work programmes44. Synergies by design are specifically evident in 
specific objectives 1 (HPC), 2 (cloud-to-edge solutions, data spaces, AI), 5 (technologies/solutions 
to support circularity) and 6 (semiconductors).  
On Artificial Intelligence, while Digital Europe has supported the deployment and uptake of AI 
by  sectorial  AI  testing  and  experimentation  facilities  and  other  services,  such  as  the  EDIHs, 
Horizon  Europe  supports  scientific  progress  in  this  area,  for  instance,  by  strengthening  the 
alignment  within  Europe’s  R&I  ecosystem  in  AI,  propelling  accuracy,  robustness  and 
trustworthiness of AI systems to satisfy industrial requirements in terms of autonomy, accuracy 
and safety and by embedding AI technologies within robotics and industrial automation  (e.g. in 

41 CNSC - Czech National Semiconductor Cluster 
42 Chip Start EU Program | Malta Enterprise 
43 Digital tracking - European Commission 
44 The DIGITAL Europe Programme – Work Programmes | Shaping Europe’s digital future 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
automotive). 
For AI, HPC and semiconductors, these synergies are magnified by the governance structure of 
the programme. The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) draws funds from Digital Europe, 
Horizon Europe, and the Connecting Europe Facility-Digital (CEF-D), which have been exploited 
to be complementary and mutually reinforcing. For instance, the recently launched AI factories45 
are  funded  by  Digital  Europe  (which  supports  the  acquisition  and  upgrade  of  AI  specialised 
computational resources) and by Horizon Europe (which funds the set-up and operation of the AI 
factories as well as the alignment of European and national initiatives in this area).  

For HPC and quantum computing, Horizon Europe supports, for instance, the development of 
European low-power processors and accelerators  and the development of a quantum simulator. 
Moreover, more than 12 centres of excellence have been established across Europe to improve 
performance  of  algorithm  in  strategic  domains  and  adapt  applications  to  future  advancements. 
Digital  Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  supports  the  acquisition  and  upgrade  of  supercomputing 
infrastructure  and  hybrid  quantum  supercomputers,  as  well  as  high  impact  deployments  (see 
Section 2).  

Similarly,  In  the  semiconductor  sector,  the  Chips  Joint  Undertaking  (Chips  JU)  is  combining 
resources from Horizon Europe and Digital Europe. The research initiatives have supported R&I 
activities originally launched under Horizon 2020 (H2020) through the ECSEL JU, its successor 
the KDT JU, as well as the transition in 2023 to the Chips JU and its alignment with the European 
Chips Act’s ‘Chips for Europe Initiative’. Current activities focus on the creation of foundational 
infrastructures and capacities necessary for semiconductor innovation and prototype production. 
Digital  Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  ensures  the  transfer  of  research  to  innovation  platforms  in 
semiconductors through  pilot  lines, which enable European companies to prototype devices on 
cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing processes.  

Digital  Europe  benefits  from  established  networks,  where  beneficiaries  have  previously 
collaborated on other  EU-funded initiatives or worked as consortium partners, and at  the 
same  time  brings  in  new  participants,  thereby  contributing  to  a  well-anchored  shift  of 
support in the ecosystems: about half of the Digital Europe grant beneficiaries participated in 
Horizon Europe and/or Horizon 2020. In the beneficiary survey, 41% of respondents mentioned 
that their activities directly build on activities funded in other EU funding programmes.  
Digital  Europe  complements  other  EU programmes by supporting  the digital  transformation  in 
specific sectors, insofar as the horizontal tools and approaches promoted by Digital Europe (e.g. 
data spaces) are fit for the specific sectoral requirements. 

7.  Participation in the programme 

Digital  Europe  is  open  to  all  Member  States  as  well  as  Norway,  Liechtenstein  and  Iceland.  In 

45 AI Factories | Shaping Europe’s digital future 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
addition,  nine  other  non-EU  countries  (Albania,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Kosovo,  Moldova, 
Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and also recently Switzerland) benefit 
from Digital Europe funding. The programme has proved to be a critical instrument in supporting 
candidate  and  potential  countries  in  the  fields  of  digital  identity,  digital  skills  and  digital 
innovation, as tangible examples of gradual integration into the EU Digital Single Market. It has 
in this way created mutually beneficial cooperation between EU Member States, candidate 
and potential candidate countries in key areas as a geostrategic investment for peace, stability 
and prosperity across Europe. Funding is available to associated countries in all specific objectives 
except for specific objective 3 (cybersecurity) and some activities in specific objectives 1, 2 and 6 
require an ownership control assessment for entities established and/or controlled from outside the 
EU. These participation restrictions (based on Articles 12.5 and 12.6 of the Regulation46) protect 
the security and integrity of critical infrastructure and reduce the risk of technology leakage.   

Stakeholder consultations and other evaluations (e.g. the Opinion of the Fit for Future platform on 
Digital Europe47 and the Evaluation of the European Economic and Social Committee)48 highlight 
that, since the programme is new to this MFF at the time of the consultations there was still room 
for increasing knowledge of the programme, with significant variation in awareness levels across 
Member States. 
Another factor impacting participation in the programme is co-funding, which is a key element of 
the  programme  with  most  of  the  grants  requiring  a  50  %  co-financing  to  incentivise  national, 
regional  and  private  spending  on  digital  transformation.  Some  countries  have  set  up  specific 
to  complement  Digital  Europe  funding.  Co-funding 
national  co-funding  mechanisms 
mechanisms,  however,  vary  significantly  among  EU  Member  States.  Countries,  such  as  the 
Netherlands,  Denmark  and  Austria,  have  established  structured  mechanisms  specifically 
tailored  to  Digital  Europe  priorities,  offering  clear  pathways  for  applicants  to  secure 
complementary  national  funding.  These  mechanisms  often  define  priority  themes,  such  as 
cybersecurity,  AI,  or  digital  infrastructure,  ensuring  a  focused  approach.  Other  countries  offer 
fragmented or ad hoc support through ministries or existing programmes while many countries do 
not have structured Digital Europe co-funding mechanisms. 
The programme has an overall relatively high success rate for grants, which was around one in 
two (49%, with a lot of variation across topics), with the overall rates for Horizon Europe (12.9-
15%).  For  a  number  of  topics  in  Digital  Europe,  there  are  fewer  applications  than  in  Horizon 
Europe, because there are fewer organisations or consortia that can hope to qualify for a single 
funded project, by gathering all the necessary expertise, know-how and capacity to bring in the 
necessary co-funding.  
Overall,  communication  activities—including  the  Digital  Europe  website,  information  events 
organised  by  the  Commission,  and  the  Q&A  on  the  Funding  and  Tenders  portal49—were  rated 
positively. On the other hand, there was little engagement with the Digital Europe national contact 
points (NCPs). The network of NCPs50 was set up in 2023 and received EU funding only as of 
September 2024, which is why surveys in 2024 show relatively low engagement. Overall, these 

46 Regulation - 2021/694 - EN - EUR-Lex 
47 Adopted opinions - European Commission 
48 Evaluation of the Digital Europe programme | EESC 
49 EU Funding & Tenders Portal 
50 EU Funding & Tenders Portal 

14 

 
 
 
 
initiatives are instrumental in promoting the programme across the EU as they leverage networks 
with  a  place-based  approach,  engaging  directly  with  SMEs  within  their  local  ecosystems.  To 
strengthen  the  NCP  network,  the  Commission  has  invested  in  the  capacity  building  of  NCPs 
through dedicated information sessions; therefore, wider outreach and high-quality services can 
be expected in the coming years.  

8.  Simplification 

Applicants  are  in  general  satisfied  with  content  and  process-related  aspects  of  grant  and 
procurement  management,  such  as  clarity  of  the  scope,  the  description  of  calls,  the  rules  and 
eligibility criteria, the application instructions and the timing and scheduling of calls. However, 
they are less satisfied with the funding conditions, particularly the funding rate. As a deployment 
programme,  the  programme’s  calls  are  often  very  specific  with  concrete  requirements.  This 
requires  greater  resources  to  prepare  applications  than  for  comparable  programmes,  such  as 
Horizon Europe. At the same time, the funding rate is lower than in Horizon Europe. The widely 
used  ‘simple  grant’,  with  a  50%  co-financing  rate  has  been  introduced  as  an  important  tool  to 
leverage digital funding from  Member States and stakeholders across the  EU  for such  close to 
market  actions,  but  it has  presented a  challenge for some types of stakeholders,  such as public 
administrations, universities and SMEs. 

Across  consultations  three  key  bottlenecks  emerged  that  stakeholders  face,  with  the  first  two 
closely linked to securing the additional funding to complement the 50% co-financing rate: 

1.  The  combination  of  national,  regional,  and  European  funds  presents  legal 
complexities, including the need to comply with different rules, which creates uncertainty 
for stakeholders and hampers national co-investments. In addition, numerous stakeholders 
(EU-level policy stakeholders, beneficiaries) also highlighted  the lack of alignment of 
EU  and  national  funding  instruments  (different  rules,  timelines,  etc.)  making  it 
challenging  for  applicants  to  navigate  the  different  funding  landscapes  leading  to 
administrative burden and delays in project starts.   

2.  Member States and other stakeholders also highlighted the difficulties faced by applicants 
in  the  use  of  cumulative  funding,  i.e.  leveraging  funding  from  other  EU  funding 
programmes such as the ERDF or the RRF in combination with Digital Europe. The strict 
ex-ante cost delineation requirement to implement combination of funding between RRF 
and other directly managed programmes has made it impossible to reconcile in practice 
with Digital Europe, where the beneficiaries receive a specific share of eligible costs (cost-
based approach). The complexities of combining Digital Europe funding with ERDF come 
from having to coordinate with managing authorities and different rules applying to the 
two programmes (e.g. on the submission of costs). 

3.  Security restrictions as defined by Articles 12(5) and 12(6), are key to protecting EU’s 
security  but  they  require  additional  information  and  processes  in  the  implementation, 
leading  to  delays  and  changes  in  grant  agreements.  Ownership  control  assessments 
constitute a high  administrative burden  for the applicants  and in  certain  cases  can lead 
partners  to  drop  out  of  the  consortia  or  delay  the  grant  agreement  signature  process. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
Beneficiaries  mentioned  difficulties  with  the  declaration  for  ownership  control,  in 
particular for larger multinational companies and challenges in obtaining letters of support 
from Member States. 

As  the  Digital  Europe  programme  has  evolved,  the  Commission  has  repeatedly  incorporated 
lessons learnt, resulting in numerous simplifications of the programme’s implementation linked to 
the three issues above: 

1.  State aid rules: To facilitate national co-funding, the Commission has introduced a specific 
annex on State aid, as well as the most favourable funding rates in the Work programme 
2025-202751 to bring more clarity into the possible aid intensity by Member States on top 
of Digital Europe support.  

2.  Combination of funding: Due to the very strict conditions required for Digital Europe and 
RRF to pay the costs of the same project on a pro-rata basis52, a combination of Digital 
Europe and RRF funding is no longer provided for. Though complex,  a  combination of 
funding  between  Digital  Europe  and  ERDF  is  possible.  The  Commission  has  been 
organising  seminars  for  Member  States  and  beneficiaries,  and  discussions  with  the 
managing authorities of the ERDF to facilitate the combination of funding. Furthermore, 
the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP)53 was set up by the Commission to 
facilitate access to funding across 11 EU programmes, for instance, through the STEP seal, 
a label for high-quality projects.  

3.  Security restrictions: In addition, in order to further help applicants and national authorities 
understand the specific nature of security restrictions, several outreach activities, trainings 
and workshops including, for instance, workshops for the programme committee, NCPs 
and appointed national security experts have been organised. 

The Commission has implemented several simplification measures for grants. Overall, the use of 
the corporate model grant agreement and the programmes alignment on rules and procedures with 
other  programmes  as  well  as  the  use  of  corporate  IT  tools  simplifies  the  user  experience  and 
consolidates  and  enriches  guidance  and  training  offers.  The  grant  agreements  provide  further 
simplification,  for  example  by  providing  the  possibility  for  the  use  of  unit  costs  for  certain 
personal and other cost categories, the 7% flat-rate for indirect cost rate and more recently, lump 
sum grants for some activities.  These simplification measures were perceived by a substantial 
share  of  beneficiaries  as  being  effective  at  reducing  the  administrative  burden.  In  addition,  the 
Commission is also improving and simplifying user experience in its main entry point for funding 
programmes  and  procurement  options  managed  by  the  European  Commission  and  other  EU 
institutions and agencies (EU Funding and Tenders Portal). 

51 The DIGITAL Europe Programme – Work Programmes | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
52 Each programme paying parts of the costs of the project up to 100% of the eligible costs. This approach is deemed to be double 
funding by the European Court of Auditors. The pro-rata approach has been allowed in a few cases which remained exceptional. 

53 Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform - European Union (STEP) 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9.  In the future  

9.1 Digital Transformation in a new context  

While  the  programme  has  made  good  progress  on  its  objectives,  the  new  geopolitical  and 
technological  context  has  made  more  substantial  investments  into  digital  transformation  more 
critical than ever.  

Over  the  programme’s  lifetime,  the  sociopolitical  and  technological  landscape  has  undergone 
significant transformation, amplifying the critical nature of economic security and technological 
sovereignty in addition to competitiveness. 

The current context is shaped by three interwoven factors: 

•  post-COVID  digital  acceleration,  which  has  embedded  digital  transformation  into  the 

• 

• 

fabric of economic and societal resilience. 
rising  geopolitical  tensions,  including  renewed  warfare  in  Europe,  shifting  US-EU 
relations, and the weaponisation of dependencies in global supply chains. 
the  emergence  and  upscale  of  generative  AI,  which  has  unlocked  unprecedented 
technological  capabilities  but  also  introduced  complex  policy  challenges,  from  ethical 
governance to workforce disruption. 

In this  new  context, the  imbalances highlighted in  the 2021  Impact  Assessment54 have become 
more  critical.  Key  areas  like  supercomputing,  artificial  intelligence,  semiconductors,  and 
cybersecurity are no longer optional priorities but existential imperatives for securing the EU’s 
strategic autonomy. 

The recent Generative AI and Large Language Model (GenAI/LLM) revolution has underscored 
the strategic importance of the digital infrastructure investments made by the EU’s Digital Europe 
programme: supercomputing, cloud and data spaces, and AI testing and experimentation facilities.  

In addition, developing a collective cybersecurity resilience, capacity to anticipate, identify and 
react to increasingly more sophisticated cyberattacks has become essential to our future in the new 
geopolitical context.  

However, the EU is still lagging behind. As highlighted in the Draghi report55, the EU depends on 
foreign  countries  for  over  80%  of  its  digital  products,  services,  infrastructures  and  intellectual 
property. While the US and China have been transitioning their economic models towards ICT 
since  the  early  2000s,  Europe  has  not  kept  pace.  The  EU’s  share  of  global  ICT  market  share 
dropped by 11 percentage points (from 21.8% to 10.8%) between 2013 - 2023 while the US’ global 
ICT market share increased from 26.8% to 38% over the same period56.   

54 EUR-Lex - 52018SC0305 - EN - EUR-Lex 
55 The Draghi report on EU competitiveness 
56  Global market share of the ICT market from 2013 to 2024 | Statista. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
The EU is significantly behind the US and China in terms of industrial investment in ICT research 
and development in both ICT software and hardware57. US investment in ICT software is more 
than 12 times the investment of the EU. The US also leads in terms of numbers of companies in 
ICT  software,  with  54.3%  US  companies,  22.7%  Chinese  companies  and  only  8%  companies 
based in the EU58. 

As highlighted in the impact assessment accompanying the proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)59  the EU suffers from  a ‘financing and investment 
gap in the latter stages of innovation, development and scaling up of companies,60 in strategic 
sectors essential for supporting the competitiveness of the EU economy, including the ‘valley of 
death’ scaling-up problem61.’ European startups frequently face two critical ‘valleys of death’. 
The first arises when innovations cannot transition into marketable products, and the second, which 
is especially challenging in Europe, occurs when companies struggle to scale62.  

landscape.  However, 

this  growth  coexists  with 

Europe  has  a  flourishing  early-stage  start-up  ecosystem  with  the  number  of  founders  starting 
companies even surpassing the US.  In 2015, there were less than 8 000 early-stage tech companies 
in  Europe,  while  in  2024,  this  number  has  more  than  quadrupled  to  35  000+63  highlighting  a 
dynamic  entrepreneurial 
structural 
challenges. Complex regulations, bureaucratic hurdles, and a fragmented EU market continue to 
undermine Europe’s attractiveness as a place to start and scale a tech company64. In the starting 
phase, companies in the EU are slightly more likely to raise funding than companies in the US. 
However,  as  companies  acquire  more  capital,  the  investment  gap  widens  drastically.  US 
companies are twice as likely as their European counterparts to secure funding of USD15 million 
or  more65.  This  disparity  is  reflected  in  unicorn66  numbers:  Europe  had  286  unicorns  in  2024, 
compared  to  nearly  400  in  China  and  over  1,600  in  the  U.S.  Across  Europe,  there  are  also 
substantial disparities in the concentration of unicorns, with Germany, France, Sweden, and the 
Netherlands demonstrating the highest concentrations67.  

The EU’s financial markets, marked by fragmentation coupled with a general risk-averse culture, 
continue to impede investment in sectors with high growth potential and innovation. In addition, 
the EU’s precautionary approach based on ex-ante regulation may also hamper innovation. The 
Draghi report states that there are around 100 tech-focused laws, and 270 regulators involved in 
digital networks. These put European companies at a disadvantage in a technology market driven 

57 JRC Publications Repository - The 2024 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard 
58 JRC Publications Repository - The 2024 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard 
59 The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy Choose Europe to start and scale: EUR-Lex - 52025SC0555 - EN - EUR-Lex 
60 For example, pilot production lines for advanced chips. 
61  The “Valley of Death” is commonly known as a market failure. Here we refer to the “second valley of death” where 

companies find it hard to obtain the required growth finance. Private investors are deterred by unproven ability to scale-up 
rapidly and generate cash flow. “First valley of death” is associated to pre-commercial development of a product, with still 
high technical risks and unproven ability to generate revenue. In both cases investments are seen too risky by private 
investors, and are, therefore, often not funded. 

62    The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy Choose Europe to start and scale, COM(2025) 270 final. 
63 State of European Tech 24: soet2024_report.pdf 
64 Ibid. 
65 Ibid. 
66 A privately owned start-up company, which has reached a valuation of $1 billion or more 
67 State of the Digital Decade 2025 report | Shaping Europe’s digital future 

18 

 
 
 
by ‘winner-takes-most dynamics’68. However, the EU’s proactive stance on regulatory standards 
in emerging fields like AI and data governance presents a strategic opportunity. By harmonizing 
rules and fostering globally recognized frameworks, the EU could  position itself as  a leader in 
shaping  the future of technology,  turning regulatory rigour into a competitive advantage  rather 
than a constraint. 

Another challenge to tackle is the growing dependence of EU’s digital future on consistent energy 
supply. Data centre electricity use is projected to nearly double to 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 
2030, slightly exceeding Japan’s current total electricity consumption, primarily driven by AI and 
rising  demand  for  digital  services69.  Europe’s  elevated  energy  expenses  impede  expansion  in 
specific digital sectors, increasing the costs of digital infrastructure investments and delaying the 
pace of digital transformation.  

In addition, the rising complexity of the challenges we confront—such as criminal abuse of digital 
disinformation, cyberattacks, deepfakes, and manipulation through algorithms—underscores the 
urgent need for widespread digital literacy and a competent ICT workforce. Only slightly more 
than half of Europeans (55.6%) possess basic digital skills, which are critical for competitiveness 
and societal resilience against online threats, such as those targeting information integrity, mental 
health, and the safety of minors. The supply of ICT professionals with advanced expertise remains 
limited, exacerbated by a significant gender disparity70. 

Consequently,  a  ‘transformative  shift  in  investment  landscape’71  is  required  to  meet  the  EU’s 
digital objectives. For the next MFF, the investment gap in digital has been estimated in the Draghi 
report at EUR 150 billion per year. The report emphasises that such gap may only be addressed 
with a much higher leverage of private investment. This also raises the challenge of taking into 
consideration economic security and technological sovereignty challenges in more market-driven 
financing. 

9.2 Future digital investments  

Across consultations, stakeholders stress the urgency of designing a programme that contributes 
to the green transition, addresses the environmental impact of advanced digital technologies 
and supports the optimisation of their energy efficiency. EU citizens, companies, and NGOs 
also  advocated  for  a  more  accessible  and  inclusive  programme  fostering  public  trust  and 
enhancing digital literacy. In their views, prioritising inclusivity, ethical practices, accessibility 
and the twin transitions could increase Digital Europe’s impact and further consolidate its role as 
a key driver of Europe’s digital future.  
When asked about future funding priorities, stakeholder feedback underscores the need to prioritise 
AI technologies (80%) as a  cornerstone for innovation and competitiveness. In addition to AI, 
advanced  connectivity,  navigation  systems,  digital  technologies,  robotics,  and  autonomous 

68 E.g. The Draghi report on EU competitiveness 
69 Energy and AI – Analysis - IEA 
70 2025 State of the Digital Decade package | Shaping Europe’s digital future 
71 State of the Digital Decade 2025 report | Shaping Europe’s digital future 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
systems are recognised as critical for strategic support. 
On  stakeholders’  priorities,  most  respondents  highlighted  the  lack  of  access  to  advanced 
computing  resources  and  AI  applications  that  can  drive  innovation  and  improve  services  in 
various sectors, the lack of advanced digital skills and capabilities, and lack of cybersecurity 
and trust in digital systems.  
Stakeholders  also  emphasise  the  need  for  Digital  Europe  to  reduce  reliance  on  non-European 
technologies to maximise its strategic benefits. They suggested to further harness the full power 
of  open  source,  a  public  good  that  allows  free  use,  modification,  and  redistribution  of 
technologies,  and  to  activate  the  potential  of  the  vibrant  open-source  community,  which  could 
enhance tech sovereignty and reduce reliance on third countries. 

The preliminary findings of two other studies on the future investment needs in digital research 
and deployment72 also stress the need for investments in technologies critical for resilience, such 
as:  

➢  AI, data, cybersecurity (in trustworthy and explainable AI,  frontier AI, agentic AI, AI 
applications,  for  example,  in  smart  healthcare,  data  driven  public  sector,  data  driven 
connected mobility and related cybersecurity solutions; 

➢  microelectronics and photonics (in particular, ’More-than-Moore’, RISC-V, Chiplet and 
modular architectures, 3D stacking and wafer-level packaging,  advanced packaging  and 
3D integration and green electronics); 

➢  the  future  deployment  of  quantum  technologies  (quantum  computing,  quantum  key 

distribution, quantum MRIs, quantum gravimetry, etc,); 

➢  next-generation internet; 
➢  extended reality (for simulation in science, training, education and digital twins); 
➢  technologies  for  interoperability  (for  example,  for  secure  cross-border  data  exchange), 

and   

➢  cross-technology deployment, for example combining HPC, AI and quantum computing 

or Cloud-Edge-IoT, AI and data in automotive applications.  

In  terms  of  programme  implementation,  the  evaluation  highlights  the  potential  of  expanding 
Financial  Support  to  Third  Party  (FSTP)  schemes  to  broaden  outreach  to  a  wider  range  of 
beneficiaries. This mechanism could serve as a tool for distributing public funds to support entities 
such as start-ups, scale-ups, SMEs, and mid-caps in developing and adopting digital innovations.  

Furthermore, consultations reveal the need to establish a fast track from research to deployment 
to ensure that relevant cutting-edge results are deployed and brought to the market without any 
further administrative complexities for applying companies or delays in subsequent funding. 

Innovative public procurement and pre-commercial procurement could serve as strategic tools to 
bolster  digital  sovereignty.  By  leveraging  these  mechanisms,  the  EU  can  directly  drive  the 
development of technologies tailored to its unique needs, ensuring critical infrastructure remains 
under European control.  

72 To be published in Q1 2026 

20 

 
 
 
 
A conference on the future of digital investments in the EU organised in the context of the Danish 
presidency  of  the  Council  of  the  European  Union73  also  stressed  the  importance  of  public 
procurements and concluded that future investments in digital deployment need to be more unified 
merging current programmes and applying simplified rules. The event's conclusions echoed the 
importance of the increased private investment highlighted in the Draghi report and emphasised 
the role of public funding in de-risking private investments. 

9.3 Digital in the next MFF 

On 16 July 2025, the European Commission published its proposals for the next MFF. Several of 
the shortcomings identified in this evaluation were addressed in the design of the future European 
Competitiveness Fund74. One of the four policy windows of the ECF proposal (Digital Leadership) 
focuses  on  digital,  from  research  to  scale-up  and  deployment.  Digital  activities  may  also  be 
supported in different sectors through the other policy windows of the proposal. The ECF proposal 
addresses the identified challenges by: 

➢  simplifying  the  investment  lifecycle:  ensuring  a  seamless  transition  from  research  and 

innovation to manufacturing and large-scale deployment; 

➢  enhancing adaptability: providing flexibility to respond to emerging priorities and evolving 

technological landscapes; 

➢  mobilising private capital: leveraging loans and equity instruments to attract private sector 

investment alongside public funds; 

➢  streamlining governance: Reducing administrative complexity through a unified rulebook 
and harmonised funding rules for applicants (e.g. for alternative, combined, and cumulative 
support). 

Furthermore, to support combination of funding, the ECF proposal permits actions that have 
received  a  contribution  from  another  programme  to  also  receive  a  contribution  under  ECF 
funds75.  

10. Conclusions 

The interim evaluation of the Digital Europe programme highlights the programme’s significant 
progress in advancing the EU’s digital capabilities through large-scale infrastructure deployments 
and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies. Key achievements include the funding of one of 
the  world’s  fastest  and  most  energy-efficient  supercomputers  (JUPITER),  the  establishment  of 
state-of-the-art  AI  TEFs,  and  the  development  of  infrastructure  to  train  large-scale  AI  models 

73 Conference | The Future of Digital Investments in the EU, final report to be expected in October 2025 
74 EUR-Lex - 52025PC0555 - EN - EUR-Lex 
75 Ibid. 

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
while supporting the integration of AI by SMEs. The programme has also established frameworks 
for cross-border cybersecurity preparedness, trained professionals in advanced digital skills, and 
driven digital transformation within public services. 

Digital  Europe  has  been  implemented  effectively,  generating  tangible  benefits  for  a  growing 
number of organisations across the EU and beyond, including in the context of the acceleration of 
the EU accession process. However, challenges  persist, including limited awareness of funding 
opportunities,  complex  co-funding  requirements,  and  administrative  burdens.  The  Commission 
has  proactively  addressed  these  issues,  introducing  targeted  measures  to  streamline  processes, 
enhance accessibility, and improve the overall implementation framework. 

The evaluation emphasises the programme’s alignment with stakeholders’ current and evolving 
needs,  its  flexibility  in  adapting  to  emerging  trends,  and  its  responsiveness  to  sector-specific 
priorities. Lessons learnt about both the programming and implementation phase have been used 
in the design of the next MFF and should continue to inform the ongoing legislative negotiations. 
Recent developments—such as the heightened importance of digital resilience post-pandemic, the 
emergence of generative AI, and the shifting geopolitical landscape—have underscored the urgent 
need  for  increased  investments  in  sovereign  digital  infrastructure,  cybersecurity,  and  advanced 
digital skills. These developments have further reinforced the strategic imperative of securing the 
EU’s strategic autonomy by mitigating critical dependencies on external technologies and systems 
requiring much larger investments in the future.  

22