The European Commission welcomed, on 16 September 2026, the initiative of 19 Member States to create and pre-notify, under State aid rules, the first Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) in artificial intelligence. Pre-notification opens technical talks. It is not final approval of companies, budgets or forms of support.

The 19 countries, according to the statement, are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Germany coordinates. Romania is on the official list; this account does not invent a national budget.

The project aims at decentralised, commonly accessible AI services across the stack — from compute and management technologies to industrial applications. The Commission ties it to the AI Continent plan, the Apply AI strategy and the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act. Those are policy aims, not money already paid to firms.

Eleven of the participating states that will grant aid to direct participants said they would start pre-notifying national projects in September 2026. The Commission will check eligibility against the IPCEI Communication. The design-support hub, opened in April 2025, helped with preparation.

The IPCEI instrument allows cross-border support for research, innovation and industrial investment, subject to European State aid conditions. Details on participants and sums become certain only after assessment and decisions.

The source is the Commission’s digital-strategy statement, not a lobby brief. This account uses “pre-notified”, not “approved”.

Nineteen states, including Romania; a German coordinator; no cash allocation in this text. The rest is the State aid file.

Image: KenSwe72, Berlaymont building, Brussels, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Source consulted: Commission welcomes the design of first Important Project of Common European Interest in AI.