Europe’s Industrial Stack 

Technological and digital sovereignty has shifted from an academic concept to a political imperative, becoming a core pillar of economic resilience. This paper, the product of a cross-sectoral workshop and twelve expert interviews, aims to give that dynamic a new direction. It is based on the conviction that consistently leveraging of industrial potential and strengths offers the opportunity to transform Europe’s sovereignty from an abstract goal into a measurable and resilient ecosystem. Against this backdrop, the Industrial Stack forms the technological architecture linking physical industry (OT) and software intelligence (IT). By uniting key industrial technologies, the deep domain expertise of workers, and the innovative strength of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under open standards grounded in the rule of law, the Stack forges a distinct European competitive advantage. 

Instead of pursuing costly full-stack approaches, the position paper advocates a strategy of “Selective Sovereignty”. This approach shifts the focus toward leveraging existing strengths and potential within key industrial sectors, such as microelectronics, automation technology, battery cell manufacturing, and mechanical and plant engineering. The goal is to establish leverage points within value-critical processes, data flows, and standards through continuous learning and the coordinated fostering of innovation ecosystems. 

The following ten theses outline how this potential-driven path toward greater technological and digital sovereignty can be practically.

This paper is the outcome of a year-long working process in cooperation with Siemens AG. It draws on a cross-sectoral expert workshop held in November 2025 and a series of targeted expert interviews conducted in spring 2026, with contributions from politics and industry as well as foundations, trade unions, business associations, and academia.