Central European Coalition Proposes Joint AI Fund Under Three Seas Format

Business organizations from four Central and Eastern European countries have proposed setting up a joint AI investment fund, built around the Three Seas Initiative format. The initiators argue that without its own capital, the region will remain merely a recipient of technology developed elsewhere, despite having the talent and companies capable of building its own AI solutions.

The proposal was announced by the CEE Digital Coalition, a group of industry organizations from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. The Polish side is represented by Związek Cyfrowa Polska and Business & Science Poland, the Czech side by AAVIT, an association focused on applied IT research, and the Romanian side by ANIS. The coalition's joint report entered public debate at the Economic Forum in Karpacz, one of the largest economic conferences in this part of Europe.

A fund under the Three Seas format

At the heart of the proposal is the CEE AI Fund, a vehicle built on a public-private partnership. It would offer equity financing, guarantees and co-investment mechanisms for regional companies developing AI technologies. The plan's authors want to use the existing Three Seas Initiative format, a cooperation platform for states between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas that has so far been known mainly for infrastructure and energy projects rather than technology.

The report's authors argue the region has the scale to justify its own AI investment policy. Central and Eastern Europe has around 150 million residents and generates 2.5 trillion euros in gross domestic product, more than many large EU member states individually. Yet venture capital flowing to the region's AI companies remains marginal compared with the United States.

Our goal can no longer be just to catch up with others, we have the resources to become a hub where AI is actually built, not just bought - Tomasz Snażyk, CEO of AI Chamber CEE

The scale of capital flight

Data cited in the report show the scale of the problem. In 2025, American AI companies attracted 75 percent of global venture capital directed to the sector, roughly 194 billion euros. Over the same period, the European Union received just 6 percent of global AI VC funding, or 15.8 billion euros, spread across all 27 member states.

The disparity translates into the pace of technology adoption across the economy. According to data cited by the coalition, AI adoption among Polish companies stands at 8.4 percent, while the EU average reaches around 20 percent. The report's authors link this directly to the lack of local capital for developing and scaling homegrown solutions, which pushes the most promising teams to relocate overseas or sell their technology to foreign investors at an early stage.

We should build on what our region has traditionally been good at, remove the barriers preventing companies from scaling, and make sure EU regulations support innovation instead of restricting it - Michał Kanownik, president of Cyfrowa Polska

Demands on the AI Act

The second pillar of the proposal is a change of approach to implementing the EU's AI Act. The coalition is calling for key obligations under the regulation to be deferred in areas where technical standards, guidelines and implementation tools are still underdeveloped. According to the signatories, the combination of the AI Act with GDPR (RODO) and cybersecurity rules creates a barrier that is hard to overcome for many companies without large legal teams, something mainly large corporations can afford.

The argument fits into a broader discussion underway in Brussels, where the European Commission is itself considering easing some AI Act requirements for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. Representatives of the CEE Digital Coalition stress, however, that regulatory relief alone will not be enough without parallel access to capital and computing infrastructure.

What it means for Poland

The proposal carries particular weight for Poland, since Polish business organizations play a leading role in the coalition. Business & Science Poland, one of the organizations behind the report, notes that for Polish companies what is at stake is not just access to funding but the ability to develop technology independently, rather than simply buying it from foreign vendors.

Keeping pace with technology has become a matter of execution capacity, sovereignty and infrastructure - Karolina Wiercioch, Business & Science Poland

A representative of the Czech AAVIT also weighed in, saying Europe needs conditions that favor AI deployment rather than more regulatory burdens. Jaromír Hanzal of AAVIT stressed that without a shift in priorities, the region risks remaining permanently stuck in the role of a recipient of ready-made technology.

For now, the CEE AI Fund proposal has the status of a demand presented to governments and EU institutions, not an approved program with a specific budget and timeline. The coalition hopes the topic will be taken up at future Three Seas format meetings and placed on the European Commission's agenda during the review of the AI Act's implementation. The initiative's fate will depend on whether the region's governments are willing to commit real public funds alongside the private capital the plan's authors are counting on.