ABOUT

ABOUT Personal EU & TeamFinder

In strict alignment with the European Commission's foundational political philosophy "We put the citizen at the center," the Personal EU framework is designed to integrate fluidly into the Union's developing digital infrastructure instead of operating as a standalone, commercial social network.

Strategic Architecture & Functional Dimensions

The Personal EU framework bridges grassroots collaboration and institutional infrastructure through several core components:

• EUDI Wallet Extension: Connects cross-border peer support and team tables directly to the statutory EU Digital Identity Wallet, using eIDAS-verified identities to eliminate fake profiles and harassment.

• GovTech & "TRAIN" Integration: Creates open interaction channels between public administrations and citizen ecosystems, translating daily experiences (such as student mobility) into direct legislative and service co-design.

• Citizen Portal: Provides an ad-free, algorithm-free dashboard controlled entirely by the user for accessing public services and international peer networks without data commercialization.

• Ecosystem Funding: Operates via open-source and digital sovereignty models, seeking structure and financial support through competitive frameworks like Digital Europe or Horizon Europe.

Human-Centric Technical Standards

To ensure digital tools actively foster European integration rather than passive verification, the technical foundation requires specific interface models:

• Legal Anchoring: Integration with eIDAS 2.0 and Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) to guarantee the validity of digital micro-mandates.

• Open APIs & Modular Design: Ensuring human-centric modules like TeamFinder plug into wallet cores without vendor lock-ins.

• Privacy-Preserving AI: Semantic and linguistic matching layers (AI/Semantic APIs) that understand and translate free-form life challenges without harvesting sensitive personal data into centralized databases.

• Decentralized P2P & Mesh Networks: Bluetooth and NFC protocols allowing direct wallet-to-wallet verification and agreement signing during offline or security-compromised scenarios.

• Flexible Autonomy Levels: Interface choices supporting citizen autonomy, ranging from custom text definitions and mathematical diversity weightings (percentage selection) to binary cryptographic consent (explicit approval or denial).

The technical architecture must align so deeply with the Commission’s vision that digital tools do not remain passive identity verifiers, but instead actively foster human trust and European integration every single day. Every interface and TeamFinder module must measure its success by how effectively it empowers individual agency and sovereignty as a core asset of our shared Union.

the Letter 

from EUROPEAN COMMISSION

DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS, CONTENT AND TECHNOLOGY

Future Networks

Future Internet

Brussels

CNECT.E.3(2026)

Kurt Linderoos

kurt.linderoos@personaleu.eu

Subject: Your email sent to President Ursula von der Leyen on 19 July 2026

Dear Kurt Linderoos,

Thank you for the message you sent to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which you described your "TeamFinder EU" initiative and shared your concerns regarding digital social infrastructures.

I serve as the Head of the "Future Internet" unit within the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, and I have been asked to respond to your message of 19 July 2026 on behalf of the President.

Your message touches upon key priorities of the European Commission. European technological sovereignty and the promotion of alternative digital solutions are central to the EU’s efforts toward achieving digital self-reliance. 

TeamFinder EU – your initiative aims to promote lifelong learning and cross-border cooperation by guaranteeing every EU citizen automatic access to a multinational ‘team table’—a group of 5–25 individuals which, ideally, would include one expert or learner from each EU member state. 

This initiative aligns with the Commission’s vision. *)

In this context, I would like to highlight the open-source strategy—part of the Commission’s

package on technological sovereignty—which was recently adopted (The EU Open Source

Strategy | Shaping Europe’s digital future). Its objective is to reduce reliance on

technologies originating from outside the EU and to increase control over critical

digital infrastructure, such as software and hardware systems.

While the Commission cannot endorse specific individual solutions, we do support

open-source projects through the ‘Open Internet Stack’ initiative. If your project is

based on open source, you may wish to explore the website of the recently launched

‘Restack’ project, as well as upcoming funding opportunities. Alternatively, you could

investigate whether any of the forthcoming funding opportunities under the

Horizon Europe framework programme or the Digital Europe Programme might be

suitable for your purposes. Please note, however, that the Commission

does not provide direct funding for initiatives; instead, funding is always sought through open, competitive calls for proposals.

We wish you success in the implementation of your TeamFinder EU project.

Thank you once again for reaching out!

Sincerely,

Thibaut KLEINER

Head of Unit (acting)

*) Underlining KL