Cristina Caffarra, an innovation economist and a prominent voice in the Eurostack movement for digital autonomy, has strongly criticized European private firms for their excessive reliance on the European Commission, claiming it "infantilizes" them. Speaking at a conference in Berlin, Caffarra expressed her frustration that many in Europe defer to the Commission or national governments for solutions, questioning why the private sector has lost its agency.
Caffarra specifically targeted the forthcoming $5 billion Scaleup Europe Fund, coordinated by the Commission, which aims to provide nine-figure investments to European start-ups to prevent them from moving to the US. She finds it baffling that such a fund requires Brussels' initiative, fearing that Commission involvement will introduce unnecessary bureaucracy and stating, "Don't we know how to create a fund?"
Her broader argument is that Europe has become a "digital colony," with most hardware, software, connectivity, and AI controlled by non-European entities. While another Eurostack economist, Francesca Bria, worries about dependence on "authoritarian" US tech oligarchs, Caffarra emphasizes the economic risk of "value capture," where European digital spending benefits American revenue and reinvestment capacity. Both agree that Europe needs to build its own platforms rather than solely regulating US digital giants.
Despite her criticisms, Caffarra observes a positive shift. She notes a recent $180 million contract awarded by the Commission to European cloud providers, signaling a growing reliance on domestic options. She also sees a change in both public and private sectors, with Commission software engineers moving away from relying on AWS or Microsoft, and private companies increasingly purchasing European digital services, with buyer's clubs and institutional investors showing more interest in European tech infrastructure.
