European Commission: EU's Business AI Adoption Target Won't Be Met Until 2042

The European Commission has published its fourth report on the state of the Digital Decade, the EU's digital transformation program running through 2030, and the findings are bleak. At the current pace of adoption, the goal of having three-quarters of European companies using artificial intelligence will not be reached until 2042, twelve years behind the original deadline. The target of 20 million ICT specialists across the Union is even further off, with a realistic timeline pointing to 2051.

What the Report Shows

The report assesses progress across the four pillars of the Digital Decade: infrastructure, citizens' digital skills, business digitalization, and online public services. The picture is mixed. On one hand, nearly 97% of households in the EU have access to basic 5G coverage, which the Commission counts as a success. On the other, more advanced infrastructure, including fiber connections run directly into homes, continues to lag behind plan.

Among businesses, 46.7% use cloud computing and 39.9% use big data analytics. AI adoption is growing faster than any other indicator, up 48% last year, but it still applies to fewer than one in five companies across the Union. The Commission stresses that at this rate of growth, the EU's target of 75% of companies using AI, cloud, or big data by 2030 is unreachable within the set deadline.

Semiconductors and Talent Shortages

The most strategically significant gap concerns chip manufacturing. The EU currently accounts for 9% of the global semiconductor market, compared with a 20% target set for 2030. This is precisely the area underpinning the rest of the digital transformation, from data centers to AI models, and Europe remains dependent on suppliers from Asia and the United States.

A second serious problem is the shortage of skilled workers. Information and communication technology specialists make up just 5% of all EU employment, against a 10% target for 2030, which would translate to 20 million workers in the ICT sector. The Commission estimates that at the current pace, this target won't be met until 2051. Women account for less than 20% of tech sector employment, a figure that has remained unchanged for years.

Poland Below EU Average

National data for Poland show a mixed picture. Infrastructure performs relatively well, with coverage by very high-capacity fixed networks and fiber access both above the EU average. The situation looks considerably worse when it comes to citizens' digital skills, where the share of Poles with basic digital competencies remains clearly below the EU average, and the gap widens further among older people and rural residents.

Poland also ranks below the EU average in AI adoption among businesses. The Commission recommends that Warsaw accelerate investment in AI and cloud computing, simplify regulations that support innovators, and direct more funding toward improving digital skills among groups at risk of exclusion.

Reactions and Tone of the Debate

The report's publication drew wide coverage in Polish media, which highlighted the gap between Brussels' stated ambitions and the actual pace of implementation. Critics of EU digital policy have argued for months that excessive regulation and a fragmented internal market are hindering the emergence of European counterparts to major US and Chinese tech firms, while supporters of the current course point to growing public backing for European technological independence.

Based on current trends, by 2030 only 64% of companies will be using cloud computing, 50% big data, and just 17% artificial intelligence - from the findings of the European Commission's report on the state of the Digital Decade

What's Next

A Eurobarometer survey accompanying the report shows the problem isn't a lack of public support. As many as 79% of Europeans consider digital policy one of the EU's priorities, 85% back investment in European infrastructure, and 58% say they would be willing to switch to a European service provider even at a higher price. The Commission also estimates that every euro spent on digital policy through the NextGenerationEU recovery fund will generate 1.5 euros of economic output across the EU by the end of 2030.

For Polish companies and public bodies, the report effectively adds further pressure to implement the AI Act, whose full content-labeling rules take effect on August 2, while it remains unclear whether Poland's own AI rollout will keep pace with EU targets. The Commission announced that the next progress assessment will take place in a year, during which member states are expected to submit updated national plans incorporating the recommendations from the current report.