Europe has everything it needs. Now it just has to put it into action

Today, too many companies are confronted more with internal regulatory complexity than with external competition. As Prof. Sabino Cassese reminded us, the state does not only weigh by how much it spends, but by how it functions.

Smart simplification is a lever for growth and an amplifier of trust. Generative AI, cloud and predictive technologies can help streamline administrative processes, make regulations readable, integrable and uniformly applicable.

Regulatory transparency is not a constraint: it is a competitive asset. We must continue to build accessible, interoperable and impact-oriented regulatory models and Europe can lead this transformation.

The world is changing. Geopolitics is entering the markets, the risks are no longer only economic.

As Ferruccio de Bortoli noted, we are witnessing a return of political discretion, which can generate uncertainty and stifle innovation. Europe has an opportunity to distinguish itself by focusing on clarity, predictability and informed risk management. Predictive tools, stable regulatory frameworks and an evolved risk culture are needed.

It is not enough to protect strategic assets: they must be grown. Patient capital - pension funds, institutional investors, public banks - must be mobilised to finance innovation and scale-up in a sustainable way. These realities must be able to rely on technologies that can simulate scenarios, analyse impacts, build resilience.

Europe has a vision: energy transition, leadership on AI, green reindustrialisation.

But vision must become execution, and execution requires common platforms, interoperable models and shared governance.

We need to support the idea of a 'European Marshall Plan' for electrification, industrial efficiency, digitisation of supply chains. We also need a clear strategy on digital sovereignty.

Not to close oneself off, but to build collective capabilities: cloud infrastructures, smart grids, fair access to computational power, European standards for AI. Digital sovereignty is not the opposite of openness: it is the condition to participate as protagonists in the new technological order through reliable, inclusive, scalable ecosystems.

European competitiveness is not a challenge to be defended, but an opportunity to be realised.

With consistent choices, industrial execution and smart alliances, we can turn ambition into leadership.

We need a Europe that knows how to decide, attract, build. A Europe in which technology is a predictive lever capable of generating trust and attracting investment. A Europe in which digital sovereignty means freedom to innovate and protect data. But above all, a Europe that puts into action everything it already has.

The real challenge is not between public and private, but between a fragmented vision and a shared project. Accenture is ready to contribute: with talent, technology, experience and the ability to execute. Europe has everything it needs. Now it just has to put it into action.

(*) CEO Accenture Emea