State of the Digital Decade 2026: Closing Gaps, Mobilising Investment

The European Commission has published the “State of the Digital Decade 2026” Communication calling for coordinated investments and reforms to close structural digital gaps and strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty.

• Main action: The Communication publishes the 2026 State of the Digital Decade report, sets out policy and investment priorities (AI Gigafactories, Chips Act 2.0, Cloud and AI Development Act, DDPP review) and requests Member States to update national Digital Decade roadmaps by December 2026; it documents Member States’ commitments of 1 934 measures and EUR 289.3 billion total investment (including EUR 205.9 billion public).
• Context and details: The Communication summarises progress and gaps (semiconductors: EU share 9% vs 20% target), provides investment need estimates (e.g., EUR 120 billion for semiconductor ecosystem, ~EUR 200 billion for data center expansion by 2036), flags an imminent funding cliff as many RRF measures phase out by end-2026/2027, and proposes EU-level instruments (ECF, NRPPs) and regulatory measures to mobilise public/private finance.