No one wants to be unplugged. That is why Europe must ensure that our most sensitive health data is secure, accessible, and backed by resilient digital infrastructure. 

Health data is among our most sensitive information, so Europe must ensure secure storage, trusted sharing, and resilient digital infrastructure. 

From the European Parliament side, this means simplifying rules, enforcing existing legislation, and supporting European innovation to strengthen digital sovereignty.

During this week’s European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, we sat down with Malta’s MEP Alex Agius Saliba, Vice-President of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, to discuss Europe’s digital health infrastructure, data sovereignty, and innovation.

Heavy dependence

MEP A. Agius Saliba sees Europe’s dependence on overseas data storage and cloud providers as a major challenge, especially when even governments store sensitive health data outside the continent.

He recalls: “When we look at what happened three days ago with the United States ban on a particular AI model, this is the situation we are in.” That is why he is convinced that we have to enforce our rules, which are the backbone of our Union, but at the same time we do not have a backup plan.

With more than 80% of cloud infrastructure controlled by non-European players, he argues that the EU must enforce its rules while urgently investing in its own digital infrastructure and developing reliable alternatives to reduce strategic vulnerabilities.

He is cautious, warning that if, at some point, “the plug is switched off” on systems such as Microsoft, Europe could “end up with nothing”. In such a scenario, citizens would lose access to essential services, underlining the urgent need for stronger European digital sovereignty and resilience.

MEP Agius Saliba says we need to act fast on digital infrastructure. While the United States has long been a strong partner to the EU, he warns that Europe is “falling behind”. He stresses the need to invest more and simplify the rules.

He acknowledges that AI will always remain a high-risk industry, especially when it comes to health data and related processes, which must be treated with caution. At the same time, he stresses the need to make it easier for industries to share and use data – because without data, AI cannot exist. He adds that this is exactly where Europe is currently at a competitive disadvantage compared to other continents.

A. Agius Saliba says that he is currently working as a rapporteur in two different committees on the Data Act and the Digital Omnibus dealing with data. He explains that this can streamline complex rules into one overarching Data Act.

He notes that if Europe wants to advance on health data, it is really important to have more streamlined rules, with the protection of privacy. At the same time, this must make it possible for European companies to share data, as this is still not happening at this stage.

Our dependency is not reducing; it’s growing day by day.

Buy European

Talking about when Europe can achieve some independence in this field, he says:
“It’s a problem. I am not seeing us going in that direction fast enough or being bold enough in taking bold steps to achieve at least basic results. Our dependency is not reducing; it’s growing day by day.” MEP Agius Saliba thinks that for Europe this should be a priority topic for the EU.

He outlines what is needed, starting with EU procurement rules. When it comes to digital independence, we must buy European, he emphasises, and that should be a requirement not only for EU institutions but also for member states.

If we don’t incentivise European investment, he warns, we will remain in the same position we have been in for the past years.

That is the priority: simplifying our rules while at the same time being more forceful in implementing what we already have. Agius Saliba thinks that we are sending mixed signals, also through the rules that are already in place today. With the current threats, he notes that the European Commission is sometimes backtracking on a number of enforcement actions, including the Digital Services Act and the AI Act. It is therefore essential to enforce these rules while also simplifying them.

Scale-up speed

MEP Agius Saliba says that we do not have the same level of scale-up companies as others, for example US companies. He notes that there was an opportunity post-Covid to use the recovery funds, with funds also targeted at digitalisation and innovation.

He recalls that we continued to support hyperscalers coming from outside our continent because we did not have alternatives. He emphasises that we do have European alternatives, but they operate on a much smaller scale. And this is the biggest challenge now – scale-up is not happening at the speed we need.

Agius Saliba notes: “If you look at the initiatives that we took – EU data space – these are results we wanted to see. If we want to see more investments in health tech, we need to do more.”

The MEP believes that we should utilise much more resources. Even when it comes to the development of health infrastructure and technologies, another challenge we are facing is the free movement of data and health data.

So, what’s the next big innovation?

Asked what the next big innovation is that can level up this industry in Europe, the MEP responds that the next big thing is MedTech.

Agius Saliba emphasises that, for example, Apple has major investment in R&D in MedTech. He says it is really important for Europe to catch up as soon as possible and boost these technologies and industries. He stresses that EU funding must be directed to support startups and innovators, noting that Europe has some of the best startups and innovators in health innovation and MedTech. He adds that they need to be helped to scale up.

Also, when it comes to the regulation of medical devices, we have spent so much time negotiating these rules that we have fallen behind. It is good to have legislation that protects data, but at the same time it is really important to have legislation that actually works and reflects the needs of companies and patients.

“We should act faster,” Alex Agius Saliba is convinced.

19.06.2026.