From Paper to Practice: What the CEPS Task Force on the Apply AI Strategy Actually Needs to Deliver

The European Commission's Apply AI Strategy, launched in October 2025, represents a decisive pivot in EU technology policy. After years of regulatory scaffolding, culminating in the AI Act, Brussels is now asking a different question: how does Europe actually deploy AI at scale across its economy?

The answer, it turns out, requires more than a strategy document. It requires structured engagement between industry, policymakers, and researchers to work through the hard implementation questions the Commission has left open. This is precisely what the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is attempting with its newly launched Task Force on the Apply AI Strategy, running from June 2026 through February 2027.

The Strategy's Architecture

The Apply AI Strategy operates across three pillars. First, sectoral flagships targeting eleven domains: healthcare and pharmaceuticals, mobility and automotive, robotics, manufacturing, energy, agri-food, defence, climate, electronic communications, cultural and creative sectors, and the public sector.

Second, cross-cutting support measures to address infrastructure, data governance, and skills. Third, a new governance system anchored by the Apply AI Alliance, a coordination forum bringing together AI providers, industry leaders, academia, and public sector actors.

The strategy encourages an "AI-first policy" where organisations consider AI as a potential solution in strategic decisions, while promoting a "buy European" approach with emphasis on open-source solutions. European Digital Innovation Hubs have been rebranded as "Experience Centres for AI" to serve as single entry points to the EU's AI innovation ecosystem.

The Implementation Gap

The strategy's ambition is clear. Its implementation pathway is not.

As CEPS Director of Research Andrea Renda noted in February 2026, the Apply AI Strategy comes with "a lot to do but no budget." The Commission has committed approximately €1 billion in public investment through existing programmes like Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme, expecting this to attract co-financing from Member States and private actors. But the critical link to the European Competitiveness Fund remains unclear.

Several structural questions remain unresolved:

Infrastructure Alignment

The EU is building AI Factories and Gigafactories through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. A July 2026 call for tenders aims to establish up to seven AI Gigafactories, backed by up to €10 billion in combined EU and national funding, expected to unlock at least €20 billion in private investment. But will these facilities serve actual industrial needs, or will they remain research infrastructure disconnected from deployment pathways?

Data Sharing Track Record

The EU's data strategy has struggled to produce results. From the European Health Data Space to Catena-X in the automotive sector, industry has not found effective mechanisms for data sharing that support both primary and secondary uses.

The Data Space Accelerator, a €23 million programme launched in June 2026 by IDSA and Catena-X, explicitly acknowledges that SMEs "still lack access to data spaces or the resources needed to invest in advanced digital solutions." Why would the Apply AI Strategy produce different outcomes?

Adoption Depth Versus Headline Numbers

Recent research shows 54% of European businesses now use AI, up from 33% two years ago. But advanced AI usage, embedding AI into core business processes and building custom solutions, has barely moved, increasing just one percentage point over the past year to 22%. The gap between basic and advanced adopters is widening, not closing.

What the Task Force Is Designed to Do

The CEPS Task Force operates across three sector tracks: Healthcare & Pharma, Automotive & Mobility, and Government & Public Sector. Each track applies a consistent analytical structure across five issue areas: key use cases, infrastructure requirements, data governance, flagship applications, and sovereignty and implementation roadmaps.

The methodology matters. Nine sector-specific working sessions run from June through December 2026, followed by a drafting and member review phase, with a Final Report launch in February 2027. All sessions operate under Chatham House Rules, with physical attendance strongly encouraged.

Deliverables include the Final Report with cross-sectoral analysis and recommendations, three sector policy briefs, and direct input into the Apply AI Alliance process. The Task Force is designed to feed structured analysis into the Commission's governance machinery, not to produce another shelf document.

The Harder Questions

The Task Force faces constraints that no amount of stakeholder engagement can fully resolve.

Compute Architecture Mismatch

Simply relying on large-scale data centres and powerful GPUs will not be sufficient. Each sector requires different solutions. Healthcare AI for diagnostic imaging has different compute profiles than automotive AI for autonomous driving systems. The question is whether AI Factories and Gigafactories are being optimally placed and configured to serve these distinct needs.

Skills Forecasting Failure

Predicting required skills for each sector has proven unreliable. The Commission and stakeholders should instead focus on AI solutions that augment human capabilities rather than replace them, but this requires different design principles than efficiency-maximising automation.

Regulatory Coherence

The Apply AI Strategy must operate within the broader EU legislative environment, including the AI Act, the Data Strategy and Data Act, and the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA). Whether these frameworks create coherent incentives or contradictory compliance burdens remains an open question.

What Success Would Look Like

The Task Force's value will be measured by whether its outputs change actual procurement decisions, deployment timelines, and investment flows. Three indicators matter:

First, whether the sector policy briefs produce actionable guidance that public sector procurement officers and industry executives can use to make concrete decisions, not just strategic frameworks.

Second, whether the cross-sectoral analysis identifies genuine infrastructure and data governance gaps that the Commission can address through targeted interventions, rather than restating known challenges.

Third, whether the Task Force's recommendations feed into the Apply AI Alliance in ways that shape the Commission's implementation priorities for 2027 and beyond.

The Apply AI Strategy is the right initiative at the right time. But strategies do not deploy themselves. The CEPS Task Force represents one attempt to bridge the gap between policy ambition and operational reality. Whether it succeeds depends on whether participants bring the specificity and candour that implementation requires.