A broader agreement on technology
David's letter supports the government's push for UK participation in the EU's Made in Europe initiatives, but says an agreement should extend to digital technology and services. techUK argues that technology merits strategic attention at the summit because of its role in UK productivity, investment and future jobs.
The summit was expected to take place in November 2026. According to The Telegraph, the Prime Minister planned to seek closer alignment with Brussels' AI rules at the meeting.
Trade ties and the costs of divergence
The appeal builds on techUK's report "Towards a UK-EU Partnership for a New Age," published on September 10, 2026. The group describes UK and EU technology markets, infrastructure and supply chains as closely interconnected.
The report put two-way trade in digitally deliverable services at more than $350 billion in 2024. For 11 EU member states, the UK was the leading export destination outside the bloc for digital services. It also identified the UK as Europe's largest exporter of digitally deliverable services overall and reported UK cybersecurity sector revenues of more than €10.3 billion in 2025.
As an example of the costs of UK-EU divergence, the report pointed to Britain's exclusion from the EU's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defense fund. EU governments cannot use SAFE financing to buy UK-made defense technology, including Storm Shadow missiles.
Cloud and AI market access at risk
The letter singles out the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) as a threat to trusted UK providers' access to European markets. techUK's preliminary modeling estimates that restrictions could cost the UK economy tens of billions of pounds over five years.
That warning follows the group's September assessment of emerging EU proposals, including CADA. techUK said British firms could be excluded from a European sovereign cloud market projected to be worth €47 billion by 2028 if the proposals discriminate against trusted suppliers from outside the EU.
The European Commission describes CADA's approach to cloud and AI sovereignty as a system of four assurance levels. Public sector bodies would select levels according to their risk assessments, while member states would recognize cloud service providers following an audit.
The Telegraph reported that the proposed legislation would require governments in the single market to give priority to European firms when purchasing AI technology, including data centers and chatbot subscriptions.
The act is expected to take effect in early 2028, according to The Telegraph. The newspaper said a UK-EU agreement before then would be viewed as further evidence of closer alignment between the two sides.
