THE OBSERVATORY OF DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY IS LAUNCHING A NATIONAL SURVEY TO ASSESS FRENCH TECHNOLOGICAL DEPENDENCIES ON NON-EUROPEAN SOLUTIONS. AND DIGITAL RESILIENCE INDEX RAMPS UP;
The Observatory has launched a national assessment with the private sector. Results are intended to identify these dependencies and propose French and European alternatives.
In parallel? Digital New Deal Foundation, the Mouvement des Entreprises de France, and Inria, partners of the Digital Resilience Index, organized on May 13, 2026, at the Inria Center in Paris a morning workshop dedicated to this index.This session was an opportunity to present the results of a national survey, conducted by Wavestone, a consultancy, among 500 executives of French companies, across all sectors. A collective initiative, in line with the Digital Resilience Index (DRI), to objectively assess the strategies and practices of economic actors.
ARTHUR MENSCH THE CEO OF MISTRAL AI, PLEDGES FOR EUROPEAN INDEPENDENCE
In a noted hearing by the French National Assembly, Arthur Mensch has stressed the importance of industrial independence (including energy and AI systems), and quoted public procurement policy and investment capacity as two levers of independence. He has also exposed the abuse of red tape and the administrative barriers between European countries, wishing for European harmonization at fiscal and social rules level.
SCALE UP EUROPEAN FUND AT LAST READY TO FLY
After a final round of comparison with ATOMICO, the Swedish EQT Group has been chosen to manage the €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund.The Fund will invest across the EU and other countries in the European technology ecosystem, including Spacetech, AI, biotech, clean energy, dualtech. It will gather public and private money, thanks to the involvement of Dutch, Danish, Italian and Spanish private financial vehicles, as well as Allianz So far cybersecurity is not quoted as a target area, which leads to some questions.
ECA comment : a small step forward to support European Tech independence. Forward, of course, even if so late. Small, as the amount remains limited, and we also would expect clear rules to make sure that supported companies will remain European across their full development cycle.
AI REGULATION
On May 7, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to simplify certain rules of the AI Act. This proposal is part of Omnibus VII, which aims to reduce administrative burdens and facilitate the implementation of regulations. The agreement proposes changes to the implementation schedule of the regulation. The deadline for implementing high-risk autonomous AI systems would be postponed to December 2, 2027, instead of the initial date of August 2, 2026. For systems integrated into products, the deadline is set for August 2, 2028.
This simplification of the AI Act also includes a postponement to August 2, 2027, of the deadline for national authorities to implement “AI regulatory sandboxes.” On the other side, for providers, the deadline for implementing solutions that ensure the transparency of AI-generated content is advanced to December 2, 2026. Furthermore, the agreement between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament introduces a new ban on tools that generate “non-consensual sexual and intimate content or material relating to child sexual abuse.”
