Europe wrote the rules. Now it has to monetise them.
The EU Stack
- AI Act (2024, phased application from 2025) (European Commission)
- NIS2 (security + reporting obligations) (European Commission)
- EHDS (from March 2025) (European Commission)
- Systemic-risk AI guidance (2025): mandates transparency & adversarial testing (Reuters).
Why It Can Be a Moat
- “Secure by design” branding
- Regulatory export advantage
- Procurement preference for certified solutions
- Public trust premium
Risks & Tensions
- Overregulation chilling startups (Harvard Petrie-Flom)
- Fragmentation of enforcement across Member States
- Standards lagging behind attack vectors
If Europe aligns security, standards, and procurement, trust becomes a market advantage — not a compliance tax.