“Europe has everything it needs. What it lacks is belief.” That was the recurring theme at the opening of TECH 2025, an initiative by Handelsblatt Media Group and Schwarz Gruppe to boost our thinking, and our sense of urgency. Bringing together policymakers, CEOs and thinkers from across Europe is the ambition.
The call for action and messaging was vivid. From Joschka Fischer’s warning to Ann Mettler’s diagnosis: If Europe wants to matter, we need to move. Boldly, urgently, faster and together.
Wake-up call: the world won’t wait
Joschka Fischer (former German Foreign Minister) delivered a brutally honest analysis: we are entering an era of disconnection. Trust in the U.S. as our partner has eroded. Russia poses a real threat. Europe must take its destiny into its own hands — in defense, in tech, in leadership. “Get your act together.” This will not go away, the pace has changed indefinitely.
We missed the last waves.
We can’t miss the next.
Ann Mettler (ex-European Commission) admitted: “We underestimated how digital would change everything.” Europe lost ground on the internet, on mobile, on the cloud. When coming back from the USA a few decades ago, I was shocked with the lack of awareness. Data privacy became a religion, but innovation paid the price. Now, we need to get serious or it might really have lethal consequences.
We underestimated how digital would change everything.
Ann Mettler (ex-European Commission)
Our talent is real, our confidence isn’t
Executives from Siemens and Schwarz Group were clear: Europe has the brains and the capital, but it lacks urgency. We over-regulate, over-intellectualize, and under-execute. “We make press releases with Microsoft, but forget to share and celebrate our billion EUR investments at home here in EU.” We have to tell a different story.
What Europe needs to win
The roadmap was very similar to what Peter Wennink shared during the New Insights event:
- Simplify: free up innovation from bureaucratic constraints. Just go.
- Mobilize capital: stop guarding it, start deploying it.
- Collaborate: across countries, sectors, generations.
- Act: don’t wait for local or EU politics — act locally and move forward.
Journalism, truth & the new war
Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, did not add a sugar coat. She added to the urgency with another war already at play: disinformation is weaponized faster than truth. “Facts travel six times slower than lies.” We need to activate our own communities to counterbalance the scams.
The big question: who do we want to be?
Panelists agreed: sovereignty is not just about regulation, it’s about leadership. Europe can become a tech superpower, but only if we act like one. We need to buy our own goods. We have to take bold decisions without always agreeing together every single time. The United States of Europe? Bold idea. But boldness was exactly what Day 1 asked of us. Stay tuned for Day 2.