#18 EuroStack

In this episode, Toby and Krisztian dive into EuroStack, an industry-led lobby initiative pushing for European digital sovereignty. Krisztian breaks down what EuroStack is, what it proposes, and why it matters now. They cover the scale of Europe's dependency on non-European tech (260 billion euros per year flowing out), what it actually means to be a "European" company, how public procurement could bootstrap a European tech ecosystem, and why trust in US hyperscalers has finally broken. They also explore the companion site euro-stach.com, a directory of 1620+ European alternatives across 64 categories.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

1:30 What is EuroStack and why Krisztian is excited about it

4:00 The scale of the problem: 260 billion euros/year leaving Europe

7:00 Europe as a fragmented market vs the US and China

10:00 The three pillars: Buy European, Sell European, Fund European

13:00 How public procurement can generate demand and bootstrap growth

17:00 The 1-to-10 ratio: every public euro attracting 10 private

20:00 Risk of government focus pulling cloud providers away from innovation

24:00 Startup acquisition culture: why European exits go to US companies

28:00 Defining "European": jurisdiction, control, supply chain, no extra-EU restrictions

33:00 AWS sovereign cloud: smoke and mirrors

37:00 Timeline to 2030 and the gradual transition approach

40:00 Geopolitical risk: Ukraine, Starlink, and the dependency reality

44:00 European openness vs American/Chinese protectionism

48:00 Why trust in US tech has finally broken

52:00 Opportunities for European engineers and companies

55:00 Wrap-up

Technologies and Initiatives Mentioned
EuroStack initiative: https://eurostack.eu/

Solution directory: https://euro-stack.com

Scaleway - https://www.scaleway.com

OVH Cloud - https://www.ovhcloud.com

#18 EuroStack

Show Notes