Earlier this month, a part of our team took to Brussels for a special occasion: At a Parliamentary Breakfast in the European Parliament, hosted by MEPs Alexandra Geese (The Greens/EFA) and Elena Sancho Murillo (S&D), we were given the chance to lay out to parliamentarians, accredited assistants, media representatives, researchers, industry stakeholders our reasons for urging Europe to implement a European Web Data Infrastructure – a crucial step towards digital sovereignty and competitive European Web services, including in the domain of AI.

At a get-together over coffee and breakfast, the event was kicked off with a strong statement by Elena Sancho Murillo, who emphasized that the European Web Data Infrastructure is a precondition for Europe’s AI sovereignty. In her view Europe must not accept that AI foundations be solely built outside Europe. Renate Nikolay (Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at DG Connect) highlighted that direct access to data is fuel for everything that is to be done in AI. Alexandra Geese stated that the Open Web Search Initiative is seen as a cornerstone of tech sovereignty but also for democracy in Europe. She therefore issued her concerns over the fact that the OpenWebSearch initiative still needs to look for funding in Brussels at this point, instead of being backed up in their important work regarding the European Web Data Infrastructure and the Open Web Index without further delay.

Economic need for direct access to web data

An industry perspective was presented by Per Öster, who spoke on behalf of LUMI AI Factory. He argued for taking back control over web data and using it to the benefit of individuals, industry and research. For industrial players the power of data lies in making use of it. It is important to be able to process the data.
On behalf of OpenWebSearch.eu, our spokesman Stefan Voigt called for a clear legal basis and secure long-term funding of a European Web Data Infrastructure, explaining the manifold opportunities such an Infrastructure offers for Europe’s SMEs, industrial corporations and start ups. To boost digital sovereignty and competitiveness, Europe needs to enable sovereign large-scale access to Web data and this is what the European Web Data Infrastructure ensures.

Pursuing a holistic approach

In a subsequent lively discussion various aspects such as the current legal framework, micropayments for publishers/content creators, the need for talents in Europe who can make use of data, data sharing obligations pursuant to the Digital Markets Act, and the importance of objective data for democracy in the context of a multinational and multilingual European Union were addressed.

The Journey continues

After the event our team used the opportunity to hop on countless elevator rides in the Parliament building to introduce the project to further parliamentarians and their staff at their desks. Fortunately the topic has been well received.
We are now following up with the aim to bring the European Web Data Infrastructure into the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).

Our time in Brussels was a great opportunity to again highlight the importance of a European Web Data Infrastructure for Europe’s sovereignty and competitiveness. Its importance has been understood and acknowledged, but we also need to see some action now, especially with regard to funding.

Europe must act now – fast and boldly!