The digital sector has been officially included by the European Parliament among its priorities of the European Union’s 2026 budget. Through amendments submitted by Vice-President Victor Negrescu, the digital domain has been recognised as a strategic area that requires additional investment to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty.

“Europe wants to strengthen its digital sovereignty — not against anyone, but for itself. To have a competitive digital sector, and there’s a lot to be done,” Victor Negrescu stated.

According to him, Europe’s current dependence on semiconductors and digital products from outside the Union ”leads to the loss of significant funds that we need in Europe.” ”We are importing a great deal of digital services and products. We need to counterbalance this by creating relevant European players,” the MEP explained.

Despite being a global leader in fundamental research, Europe struggles to turn scientific results into globally competitive products and services.

”This is perhaps where our biggest challenge lies — marketing. Ironically, in pure research, Europe excels globally. Most of the world’s fundamental research comes from Europe. But we need to go further — to create products, promote our activities. And in this area, Europe must invest more in order to be competitive, confident, and independent, so we can move forward with the development of the digital sector.”

These ideas were previously expressed during the Romanian Digital Day, an event organised in Brussels by Victor Negrescu, which brought together over 200 experts from the European tech industry to discuss the urgent need for accelerated digital transformation. During the discussions, it was highlighted that 30% of the budget dedicated to European competitiveness could be allocated to digitalisation and innovation.