The European Commission has presented a sweeping package to boost homegrown technologies and reduce dependency on American and Chinese companies. Whether it will make a meaningful difference — and how the two superpowers will react — remain open questions.

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The EU imports most of its tech services and products from abroad. The digital market is dominated by US giants such as Google, Microsoft and Apple, and Chinese conglomerates such as Alibaba and TikTok-owner ByteDance.

“We live in a world where geopolitics and technology are inseparable. Those who champion technological innovation will shape the future, and we must ensure that Europe plays a leading role in this,” European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said.

The package seeks to boost Europe’s domestic tech sector, with a heavy focus on cloud infrastructure, AI services, open source and chips.

In his landmark report on the languishing state of the European economy, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi argued that most of the recent divergence in GDP growth between the EU and the US could be explained by digital technologies.

Having missed the first wave of the digital economy — the internet-driven services boom — Draghi warned that Europe’s last chance to rejoin the international tech race was not to be missed, namely the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.

While growing dependency on foreign technologies had been widely known among European decision-makers for decades, US President Donald Trump’s assertive trade agenda and China’s willingness to weaponise such dependencies have provided fresh momentum.

Will Brussels’ move be enough to shift the dial, or is it too little too late? And what will be the economic cost of severing deeply entrenched dependencies if the EU draws the ire of Washington and Beijing?

What’s in the package?

The main target of the European Commission’s proposal is the cloud sector, which provides the physical infrastructure underpinning most digital services. Amazon, Microsoft and Google account for 80% of the European market, with EU-based providers relegated to the margins.

The draft law introduces four different levels of digital sovereignty that public authorities must consider when purchasing cloud services, depending on how sensitive the use case is.

The highest tier, covering sectors such as defence and healthcare, would effectively bar non-European companies from winning public contracts. The aim is to prevent a so-called “kill switch” scenario, the risk that a foreign government might simply cut off access to hospitals or fighter jets.

For MEP Axel Voss (EPP/Germany), the Commission’s approach is both bold and pragmatic. “Building genuine European cloud and AI sovereignty is overdue, and giving our providers a fair seat at the table in strategic public tenders is the right instinct,” he said.

Europe also needs to catch up on chips — the fundamental components at the heart of almost every electronic device. The most advanced chips, used to develop cutting-edge AI technologies, are designed in the US and produced in Taiwan or South Korea.

After the first Chips Act failed to significantly bring semiconductor factories back to Europe through state subsidies, the Commission is trying again — this time focusing on stimulating demand for European chips, on the assumption that supply will follow.

Certain key sectors, such as automotive, will also be required to diversify their chip suppliers in certain circumstances, as part of a broader effort to reduce reliance on Chinese-subsidised producers accused of flooding the market through dumping.

Will it be effective?

The guiding principle of the initiative is AI — the transformative technology that, much like the internet before it, is reshaping the digital economy. Cloud data centres and chips provide the essential infrastructure for the next generation of AI.

Yet the AI market is dominated by the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and DeepSeek. A European preference in lucrative defence contracts could serve as a lifeline for Mistral AI, the only EU-based company at the cutting edge of the AI race.

The EU lags significantly behind in data centre construction needed to meet expected demand for AI services in the coming years, held back by a mix of slow permitting, high energy costs and a scarcity of available land.

“Europe cannot regulate its way out of technological dependency,” MEP Matthias Ecke (S&D/Germany) told reporters. “It must build its own capacity, overcoming one-sided dependencies and restoring a genuine choice for businesses and consumers alike.”

At the same time, the EU is set to join a US-led initiative, Pax Silica, to secure chip supply chains, in recognition that Europe cannot do without Nvidia chips in the short term.

That dependency could nonetheless prove self-perpetuating: regulators and rivals warn that Nvidia tends to build a closed ecosystem that is difficult to break away from.

Will there be a backlash?

The concept of technological sovereignty originated in French defence circles, rooted in the idea of developing an autonomous nuclear deterrent. The debate spilled over into digital technologies — given their dual-use potential — during Trump’s first term.

A stark wake-up call for EU policymakers came when, after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US administration sanctioned several ICC officials — cutting them off from American services woven into daily life, such as Visa, Amazon and Uber.

As Washington has grown more explicit about weaponising critical dependencies, concerns about retaliation against any treatment of US firms deemed unfair have mounted.

Commission insiders, however, consider the US front largely pacified by the EU-US Turnberry agreement, which broadly favours the American side, and say the tone behind the scenes in recent weeks has been far more constructive than the public outbursts suggest.

On the China front, the tech sovereignty debate is just one thread in a far broader tapestry of strained relations between Brussels and Beijing, with discussions around a potential trade war reaching a fever pitch in recent weeks.

Both Washington and Beijing have weaponised strategic dependencies in what analyst Mark Leonard has called the Age of Unpeace. Yet neither superpower can afford to lose access to Europe’s main strength: one of the world’s largest and most lucrative markets.

Where is Europe headed?

In the complex chip value chain, Europe still controls critical chokepoints, most notably through Dutch company ASML, which holds a near-monopoly on the industrial machinery essential to chip production.

The package also includes a strategy to leverage open-source technologies, which could help the EU overcome its fragmented tech landscape — one that has yet to produce a company capable of directly competing with Silicon Valley’s giants with an integrated offering.

Still, the lack of a scalable European single market and access to capital are frequently cited by European start-ups as the main reasons they move abroad — issues the Commission is attempting to address through the EU Inc. proposal and the capital markets union.

In short, the EU faces structural problems dragging its tech sector back. The sovereignty package addresses some of them while attempting to leverage Europe’s own strengths, conscious that complete autonomy in a globalised world is unrealistic.

For instance, Japan coined the concept of “strategic indispensability,” which emphasises controlling critical leverage points.

“The target is to achieve something visible by 2030,” Virkkunen said. “80% of technology is coming from outside Europe. We will not change that overnight.”

And then there were three.

CBS News has terminated “60 Minutes” veteran Scott Pelley after the journalist and executives felt they could not find a way to work together following a heated public argument Monday between Pelley and Nick Bilton, the former tech journalist installed last week by editorial chief Bari Weiss. Pelley is the fourth “60 Minutes” reporter to leave the venerable newsmagazine since February, leaving just a trio — Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim — to handle assignments as the show prepares to get stories ready for its 59th season in the fall.

“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Bilton said in a letter sent to Pelley Tuesday evening and reviewed by Variety. “And I have heard you. I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated effective immediately.”

Pelley could not be reached for immediate comment.

Pelley had lambasted both Bilton and Weiss during a staff meeting Monday, questioning their qualifications to manage a program like “60 Minutes,” which is one of the most respected and most watched news programs in the U.S. And he accused Weiss of “murdering ’60 Minutes.’”

Weiss had indicated last week that she wanted the program “to reach new heights through deep, revelatory journalism that breaks news, exposes wrongdoing, widens public understanding and forces accountability from every institution and every center of power.” Increasingly, however, it is unclear who will be left to accomplish the mission.

CBS News ousted a good chunk of the program’s senior managers last week, including former executive producer Tanya Simon; executive editor Draggan Mihailovich; and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Anderson Cooper, who has contributed to the show for nearly 20 years, announced his exit in February.

In a memo to staff issued Tuesday evening, Bilton tried to assuage staffers. “I know how much Scott meant to you, and I don’t say this lightly. I made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott chose.”

Bilton said he would offer “unyielding support for each of you, the journalism that you do and what we will do together going forward.”

For many, Pelley was in recent years the heart of the newsmagazine. He had turned in segments on breaking political news as well as an emotional profile on former Senator Ben Sasse and a feature on underworld caverns in Vietnam. In 2021, Pelley presented a deeply reported three-part feature on the firefighters who tried to rescue people in the burning World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, culled from tapes of conversations made available by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Indeed, Pelley has won half of all major awards earned by “60 Minutes” during his tenure, which began in 2004.

“I would not want to run ’60 Minutes’ without Scott. He mastered the art of telling a story on ’60 Minutes’ as well as any of the greats that came before him,” says Jeff Fager, who was the second executive producer of “60 Minutes” and a former chairman of CBS News, in a message sent via text. “He is a major talent and his departure is a huge blow to the program.”

Pelley has been known to viewers in other capacities. Pelley anchored “CBS Evening News” between 2011 and 2017. He joined CBS News in 1989, and started his career in journalism as a copy boy at the Lubbock Avalanche Journal in Texas, near his hometown of San Antonio.

“Journalism has nothing whatever to do with popularity. If we all do our jobs right, we’re probably not going to be very popular with a large segment of our audience. Hopefully, that changes day to day and everybody hears something they like eventually,” Pelley told Variety in 2017. “But, journalism has nothing to do with popularity and so therefore, criticism doesn’t bother me too much.”

Whether Bilton will be able to make longtime “60 Minutes” viewers forget about Pelley this fall remains to be seen.

Amid President Donald Trump’s Monday announcement that a deal with Iran’s clerical regime is imminent to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and negotiate an end to Tehran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, Iranians who hoped U.S. pressure would force a decisive outcome now fear it may survive while ordinary people absorb the costs.

“Inside Iran, the mood has shifted from early-war optimism to a kind of exhausted resignation, but there is still some hope that this is the moment President Trump will use his leverage to do the right thing. The Iranian people understand this unusually narrow but strategic window,” Lisa Daftari, editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk who keeps in contact with Iranians on the ground, told Fox News Digital.

She continued that ,”The regime is fiscally strained and politically brittle, while the broader population has been disillusioned by years of repression and economic collapse. Iranians do see this as a one‑time opportunity for Washington — and President Trump in particular — to translate military and economic leverage into the potential collapse of an irrefromable regime. If the outcome is a shallow agreement that props up the system without changing its trajectory, that window will likely close for years.”

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She continued, “If instead, the U.S. holds firm on sanctions and nuclear red lines, it can weaken the regime’s hand without punishing the Iranian people, who have already paid the highest price.”

Daftari, the Iran expert, shared recent correspondence from two Iranians from Tabriz and Tehran.

The resident from Tabriz said, “From my perspective, decades of political tension between Iran and the United States have had their greatest impact on ordinary people rather than those in power. Many families feel their voices are not being heard in international discussions about Iran.” Adding, “I respectfully ask whether you might consider sharing or highlighting the human side of this situation, so that the experiences of ordinary Iranian families are not overlooked in political discussions and media coverage.”

The Tehran resident said, “Today, the people of Iran believe in the future. On days when economic pressure makes the faces of the Iranian people sad, the word ‘unity’ brings a smile to their lips. Our situation is not good, but we are motivated.”

Fox News Digital surveyed a few Iranians and agreed to use only their first names because the clerical regime has declared the use of Starlink to bypass the censor a criminal act. A sophisticated clandestine network has managed to smuggle some satellite internet technology into Iran to allow people to communicate with the world outside the Islamist state.

Hassan, who lives in Tehran, pleaded with President Trump to keep strong in his dealings with the regime, saying that “Things have gotten so bad that even if you wanted to give up and leave Iran and just focus on your own life and work, it feels like there’s nowhere left to turn. Mr. Trump, through these deals and arrangements, has left people feeling trapped, with no road left open.”

Mehdi, who resides in Tehran, expressed confusion about the existence of an agreement. He said, “So what exactly are they agreeing on? Are they saying they’re close to a deal or are there other discussions too? Every minute there is a new piece of news, everyone has a new analysis, everything changes every minute. It’s strange. This war achieved nothing. We’re the only ones left paying the price,” he complained.

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Hassan from Tehran said that “Mr. Trump, if until yesterday most Iranians thought they were on the same path as America, you caused them all to become disappointed. “Mr. Trump, if you wanted this government to remain in power, why did you blow up factories? Now workers are being laid off, and inflation is out of control. Even with a salary of 18 million tomans, you cannot feed yourself.”

Mahsa, from the Caspian Sea city of Rasht, told Fox News Digital that the system [Islamic Republic of Iran] is still fully intact. They don’t care how many people died. If anything, they seem more emboldened now and even take pride in martyrdom. Yesterday I argued with a regime supporter [who] said: “Our leader didn’t give away a single meter of land, didn’t take a step backward, unlike previous kings who gave away Bahrain, Baku, Nakhchivan, and others.”

The concerns among many Iranians revolve around the proposed memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran’s regime. The MOU does not address the overthrow of the clerical regime or human rights violations, according to media reports.  Large numbers of Iranians within Iran and among the Iranian diaspora want the Trump administration to topple the Islamist dictatorship in Tehran.

The MOU reportedly involves a 60-day ceasefire extension. Israel and the U.S. launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. The MOU would also see the reopening the Strait of Hormuz and new talks over Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program.

The leaked elements of the MOU have not been confirmed by the Trump administration.

When asked about the concern among Iranians about a deal with the Islamic Republic, Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, told Fox News Digital that “For 47 years, American Presidents and countless other world leaders talked about the threat posed by Iran, but no one had the courage to address it. President Trump took decisive action to ensure that Iran could never harm our homeland, our troops, or our allies again. Once Iran’s nuclear threat is removed for good, the entire region and its people will be safer and more stable.”

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However, Trump said last week during his cabinet meeting, “We didn’t set out for regime change,” adding, “But by the fact that we’re dealing with a totally different group of people than we were at the beginning … This is regime change.”

Reza Farnood, an Iranian American who supports the Trump administration and is a researcher, writer and activist, urged that President Trump continue with his maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

Farnood told Fox News Digital, “We welcome the bombing and attacking the regime because we are aiming to overthrow the regime.” He urged that Trump continue the blockade of Iran’s vessels and deny money to the regime. He said sanctions relief will be used by Iran “against the U.S. and Israel and their allies and innocent Iranians.”

Farnood stressed that the clerical regime is holding the Iranian people “hostage.”

Kianoosh, who lives in the northern city of Karaj, the capital of  Alborz province, said about Trump’s proposed deal: “You threw six months of our lives into hell. What answer are “you going to give to the mothers of all those children who were killed? Why did you give people false hope? Why did you hand down a death sentence to everything so many people believed in?”

Leading U.S. Senators well-versed in foreign policy have praised Trump’s approach to the Islamic Republic. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., recently told Fox News’ Sean Hannity “On Trump’s watch, they’re [Iran’s regime] becoming poorer and weaker. That’s the difference.”

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Graham juxtaposed Trump’s Iran policy with his predecessors. “Obama and Biden screwed Iran up, and Donald Trump is fixing it. On Obama and Biden’s watch, Iran became rich and lethal,” he said. “On Trump’s watch, they’re becoming poorer and weaker. That’s the difference.”

Iran is running dangerously low on oil storage capacity and could face a severe economic breaking point if forced to halt production, former U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette recently told Fox News.

Trump has said that Iran’s regime murdered as many as 45,000 Iranian demonstrators in January 2026. He urged just days after the mass murder that protesters keep going and promised them that “help is on its way.”

Lawdan Bazargan, a prominent Iranian-American activist who the regime imprisoned in its infamous Evin Prison in Tehran in the 1980s for political dissent, told Fox News Digital that the Iranians she’s spoken with are discouraged by Trump’s dealings. “He was one of the few world leaders who repeatedly spoke about the thousands of Iranians killed in January 2026 and expressed disgust at the sheer brutality of the Islamic Republic. He had promised support for the Iranian people and raised expectations that meaningful change might finally come.”

She continued: “Now, 88 days later, many people feel they are left facing the same regime, one that appears more emboldened, more ideological, and still willing to repress, execute, and arrest people. The economy has been devastated, and many feel trapped between a government with no mercy and a future with no clear path forward.

For years, 90 million Iranians have lived as hostages of the Islamic Republic. Now, many fear that the consequences no longer stop at Iran’s borders, through threats to global energy routes, regional stability, and even digital infrastructure.”

According to Bazargan, “The question many ordinary Iranians are asking is simple: How are people expected to fight a system that feels victorious, controls the weapons, controls the narrative through a massive propaganda machine, and possesses countless tools of repression?”

Ali, who is also from the sprawling capital city of Tehran, complained about the spiraling prices and inflation and disappointment that the regime is still in place.

“For a government with state-provided housing and billions in patronage and privileges, what difference did any of this make for its supporters?”

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Ali added: “We’re the ones who are paying the price and getting crushed. How are our children ever supposed to afford these housing and car prices, and how are they supposed to get married?”

The U.S. State Department referred Fox News Digital to the White House for a comment.