Europe’s artificial intelligence policy is entering a decisive phase. After years spent shaping rules and ethical frameworks, the EU is now under pressure to show it can deploy AI at scale, strengthen competitiveness and reduce strategic dependencies – without losing public trust.
That shift framed a recent plenary debate at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) with the European Commission and AI experts, held ahead of the adoption of the [EESC opinion](https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions/apply-ai-strategy-strengthening-ai-continent) on the [Apply AI Strategy](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/apply-ai).
## From Ambition to Real-World Use
Lucilla Sioli, director of the Artificial Intelligence Office at the European Commission’s communications and technology department (DG CONNECT), said the central challenge is no longer defining responsible AI but ensuring that businesses and institutions actually use it. Europe’s ambition to become a leading AI continent, she argued, will only be credible if AI is applied to real efficiency challenges across the economy.
That is why the Commission is rolling out practical tools, including AI experience centres within digital innovation hubs, calling for closer alignment with national AI strategies, and launching a coordination forum to bring sectors such as tourism and e-commerce into the strategy.
Sioli also warned that slow and uneven implementation of AI governance across Member States risks undermining the development of trustworthy and compliant AI, urging governments to revise national strategies and align them more closely with the Apply AI vision.
## Investment, Infrastructure, and Sovereignty
Investment remains a major constraint. AI infrastructure is costly, and the public sector cannot carry the burden alone. Unlike the United States, Europe lacks comparable levels of private capital flowing into AI development.
To close this gap, the Commission is advancing its [AI gigafactories initiative](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/ai-factories), designed to crowd in private investment alongside public funding. “Companies are expected to cover around one third of the total cost,” Sioli noted, reassuring that energy efficiency and sustainability will be central considerations.
## Applied AI and People at the Centre
That emphasis on realism was echoed by Andrea Renda, director of research at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), who argued that the next phase of competition will be fought in energy, health, automotive, manufacturing and public services. Europe, he said, is entering the age of physical and applied AI.
Renda warned against a standardised approach that assumes every region can succeed in every sector. Instead, Europe needs a clear view of what each sector can realistically deliver, avoiding new dependencies – such as shipping European data into distant cloud infrastructures.
EESC voices repeatedly returned the debate to people and trust. Worker representatives, civil society and consumer advocates stressed that AI adoption will fail without transparency, accountability and tangible support for companies, particularly SMEs. Concerns ranged from job displacement and skills gaps to bias and rising energy demand from data centres.
## From Rules to Results
The debate underscored a shared diagnosis: Europe has already set the rules. The challenge is now whether it can apply AI quickly, selectively and responsibly enough to remain competitive in a global race defined by speed and scale.
If trustworthy AI is to become Europe’s differentiator, it must be visible not only in regulation, but in factories, hospitals, public services and everyday business decisions.
The Apply AI Strategy will ultimately be judged less by its ambition than by its delivery – and by whether Europeans experience AI as a tool that works for them, rather than something done to them.
