November 17, 2025. The German economy gives the federal government a poor report card when it comes to digital sovereignty. Despite the growing importance for Europe’s future, politicians are sticking to strategy papers – companies are missing practical progress. This was revealed by a recent survey of 500 German business executives conducted by IT service provider adesso on the occasion of the European Digital Sovereignty Summit.
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Only six percent of respondents believe that the German government is giving the issue of digital sovereignty the necessary priority. More than half (58 percent) see little or no commitment to creating the necessary framework conditions in recent months. The public debate is also perceived as stagnating. Only two percent of respondents see a “clearly positive change”. The perception: lots of rhetoric, little implementation.
The companies recognize great pressure to act. Almost half of those surveyed (48%) believe that their own company’s competitiveness is at risk due to a lack of digital sovereignty. Meanwhile, geopolitical blackmail is the biggest concern for one in five respondents (20 percent). One in ten fear the loss of data sovereignty and permanent legal uncertainty.
The business community has clear demands when it comes to the question of how politicians should secure digital sovereignty. Companies want it to play a creative role. While 39% would like to see greater support for basic research and digital education, 28% are in favor of the state investing in local technology champions. When asked what key demands respondents would make of politicians at the summit, one in three expressed a desire for massive investment in key technologies such as semiconductors, the cloud and AI. An accelerated expansion of the digital infrastructure (e.g. fiber optics, 6G) was also called for by 23 percent of all respondents and 25 percent wanted to actively prevent European technology companies from selling out to global competitors.
“Digital sovereignty does not mean self-sufficiency, but creative sovereignty – a strategic advantage that politicians must actively promote,” says Mark Lohweber, CEO of adesso SE. “AI is the best example: the technology is a key economic factor and too important to be left to international tech companies. Europe does not need a copy of ChatGPT, but its own, sovereignly operated models and platforms,” explains Mark Lohweber, CEO of adesso SE.
The Digital Sovereignty Index published by adesso in September has already shown that German companies have understood the importance of the topic. According to this, 92 percent of respondents from business and public administration consider the topic to be a success factor – but only one in five companies currently follows a dedicated strategy. This picture is also confirmed by the current survey: the pressure to act has been recognized, but there is a lack of implementation – a lack of political tailwind is exacerbating the situation.
On behalf of adesso, the market research company heute & morgen surveyed a total of 500 managers in Germany on digital sovereignty in November 2025.
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👉 www.adesso.de
Graphic: adesso
