European cloud providers back EU push to ditch US tech
A coalition of 13 European cloud service providers, EU lawmakers, and non-governmental organizations has launched a joint push backing the European Commission's aggressive strategy to reduce the region's heavy dependence on American technology giants.
The show of support comes just ahead of the European Commission's highly anticipated "Tech Sovereignty Package" announcement scheduled for Wednesday. The upcoming measures aim to ensure that European firms, rather than U.S. hyperscaler rivals, are prioritized to provide cloud computing and streaming services for sensitive public-sector contracts. Additionally, the policy package includes initiatives to significantly scale up the domestic manufacturing of made-in-Europe semiconductors, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Brussels’ drive toward technological independence is fueled by deepening global geopolitical tensions with both the United States and China, alongside an ongoing struggle to narrow the technology gap in critical software, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure markets.
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In a joint open letter seen by Reuters, the coalition emphasized that Europe must regain firm control over its own digital infrastructure. The groups declared that true technological sovereignty means the European Union possesses the independent capacity to freely design, understand, choose, build, operate, and regulate the digital systems that power its modern society and economy.
The coalition represents a diverse cross-section of the European digital ecosystem. Prominent corporate signatories include French cloud giant OVHcloud, Germany's open-source provider Nextcloud, Swiss encrypted privacy software company Proton, German eco-search engine Ecosia, and Dutch quantum chip manufacturer QuantWare. Decentralized social networks Mastodon and Monnett Social also signed the document alongside European Parliament lawmakers from the Greens group and civil society groups such as Defend Democracy and Save Social.
The collective sentiment was summarized bluntly by EU lawmaker Alexandra Geese, who stated that the core message of the movement is simple: "Build European, buy European, protect European."
By Aysel Mammadzada
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