Eurostat: European companies are reluctant to use  AI tools

Recent data from Eurostat 2025 shows that a lack of technical expertise and concerns about data privacy and regulatory compliance are the main obstacles to European companies adopting AI tools, despite the vast majority of business sectors recognizing the strategic value of these technologies in increasing productivity and competitiveness.

Consensus on strategic benefit

The indicators reveal an advanced investment awareness among the European business community, as the negative view of the feasibility of technology has dissipated, with the percentage of companies that consider AI "useless" only to exceed the threshold of 2.09% among medium-sized companies, and to only 1.55% among large companies employing more than 250 employees.

Despite this awareness, the digitization train encountered operational and legislative obstacles, led by a lack of technical expertise and appropriate qualifications, as 10.51% of medium companies (50-249 employees) and 10.32% of large companies complained about it.

Ironically, the demographic tech giants Denmark (15.44%), Germany (14.63%), and Finland (13.99%) are at the top of the list of countries whose mid-sized companies suffer from a human skills gap.

Privacy obsession and legislative complexities

The second set of concerns was privacy concerns and legal ambiguity, which were more pronounced among large entities, with 9.31% of large business owners attributing their reluctance to fear of data protection violations, compared to 7.95% of medium-sized companies.

In contrast, 8.12% of large business owners indicated a lack of a clear understanding of the legal consequences of using these tools, compared to 7.51% for medium-sized companies.

Regarding infrastructure and data challenges, 6.51% of medium enterprises and 6.94% of large enterprises believed that the lack of necessary data or poor quality prevents them from adopting AI tools.

Finnish companies with 10.31% and German companies with 9.12% topped the complaints in this regard, in conjunction with the presence of technical problems related to incompatibility with the current equipment and software at rates of about 6% in various companies.

Fiscal budgets and ethics are out of concern

Contrary to expectations, fiscal budgets are no longer a major obstacle, as the percentage of medium-sized firms attributing cost non-utilization to the cost did not exceed 5.67%, followed by Portugal with 9.56%, and large companies with 5.51%, and ethical considerations fell to the lowest levels of impact with only 3.36% to 3.45%.

The data puts additional pressure on EU decision-makers, who are currently negotiating the 2028-2032 budget to draft a flexible legislative framework aimed at simplifying the regulatory environment, easing administrative burdens, and removing the overlap between data protection laws and AI rules to ensure that the old continent is not left behind in the global technological race.