European search engines Qwant and Ecosia have begun routing queries through a jointly developed search index dubbed “Staan”, positioning it as a privacy-centric and cost-effective alternative to dominant U.S. services like Google and Bing.
The move follows the creation of their joint venture, European Search Perspective (EUSP), which seeks to reduce the continent’s dependence on American tech infrastructure. The partners hope to capture as much as 50 per cent of search queries in France and 33 per cent in Germany by year-end, leveraging Staan’s capabilities to bolster regional digital sovereignty.
Qwant, the French privacy-focused search provider, is already powering features such as AI-generated summaries using the new index, while German non-profit Ecosia says it is planning to roll out AI tools of its own soon. Beyond fuelling their consumer-facing search engines, Qwant and Ecosia are also promoting Staan to other European companies — particularly developers of chatbots and apps — as a low-cost index capable of supporting AI-powered search, summarisation, and question-answering.
According to Ecosia CEO Christian Kroll, most AI chatbots currently ground their answers in search results from the web using expensive solutions from Google or Bing. In contrast, Staan offers deep research and summary capabilities at roughly one-tenth of the cost, making it an attractive proposition for startups and enterprises seeking to build AI systems with embedded search features without hefty licensing fees or compromising user privacy.
The companies argue that Europe urgently needs its own tech infrastructure independent of U.S. and Chinese influence, especially in light of shifting political conditions abroad. In a joint statement, they warned that reliance on Big Tech for search, cloud, and AI services leaves critical European sectors vulnerable to foreign commercial and political risks.
By combining Staan’s search index with Europe’s robust privacy laws, EUSP says it is laying the foundations for a more secure and privacy-friendly digital ecosystem — and offering policymakers a blueprint for building a homegrown European tech stack.