Non-attached MEP Alvise Pérez has warned the European Commission that delays in software, artificial intelligence and digitalisation threaten the EU's industrial competitiveness, particularly in Germany, and called for a sharp reduction in bureaucracy, energy costs and regulation to unlock private investment.
In a written parliamentary question submitted on 10 June 2026, Pérez argued that while China and the United States advance in AI, robotics and digital platforms, much of European industry remains stuck in a 20th-century model of powerful factories with limited in-house coding, data management and automation capabilities. He singled out Germany, the EU's industrial powerhouse, as ranking only mid-table in digitalisation and lagging far behind in digital administration. In the automotive sector, he noted Volkswagen's need to partner with Rivian or XPeng as evidence that even Europe's major industrial champions increasingly rely on third parties for critical software technologies.
whether it recognises that the technology lag in software, AI and digitalisation threatens EU industrial competitiveness; whether it will assess the cumulative impact of bureaucracy, regulation and energy costs on technology investment; and what specific measures it will take to accelerate private investment, regulatory simplification and digital industrialisation. The question contains no numerical targets or deadlines but frames the issue as a structural competitiveness risk requiring a shift from abstract public plans to concrete action on investment conditions.
The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will signal whether it shares Pérez's diagnosis and whether it plans new initiatives to address the perceived digitalisation gap in manufacturing and industry.