The European Union is set to unveil a comprehensive plan on Wednesday aimed at drastically reducing its reliance on American and Asian technology, promoting European digital alternatives instead. The initiative, dubbed the 'technological sovereignty' package, seeks to build robust digital ecosystems that ensure Europe retains control over its services and data while resisting foreign interference.
Background and Motivation
The 27-country bloc has intensified efforts to boost domestic manufacturing across various sectors over the past year, aiming to catch up with competitors in the United States and China. The push comes amid concerns over vulnerabilities exposed by recent crises involving chips and rare earths with China, as well as fears that former U.S. President Donald Trump could potentially disrupt U.S. cloud computing services via a 'kill switch'.
Key Elements of the Package
EU tech tsar Henna Virkkunen will present the new strategy in Brussels, which includes regulations on chips, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. According to a draft strategy document seen by AFP, the EU currently relies on foreign providers for over 80% of its digital products, services, infrastructure, and intellectual property, based on a 2023 official report.
The package comprises several key measures:
- Cloud and AI Law: A new legal framework to encourage the construction of data centers within the EU, aiming to triple the bloc's capacity in the next five to seven years.
- Chips Law: Boosting demand for European-made semiconductors through new legislation.
- Open-Source Software: Encouraging the public sector to adopt more open-source solutions to ensure greater control and flexibility, avoiding vendor lock-in.
- Sustainability Rating: Creating a common EU scheme to evaluate the sustainability of data centers.
Market Dominance and Spending
Cloud computing is currently dominated by U.S. platforms, with Microsoft's Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud holding a combined 70% of the European market. The EU spends an estimated 264 billion euros (US$307 billion) annually on U.S. cloud software, according to a 2025 report by French consultancy Asteres.
Sovereignty Criteria and Risk Assessments
Brussels is expected to impose sovereignty criteria for public contracts in cloud and AI sectors, requiring governments to conduct 'sovereignty risk assessments' to identify European providers when necessary. This push is partly driven by concerns over data access under the Trump-era 2018 Cloud Act, which allows Washington to demand data from U.S.-based providers regardless of where the information is stored.
Potential Reactions and Challenges
The plan risks further straining relations with the United States, which has previously pushed back against EU fines and regulations targeting American tech companies. However, an EU lawmaker who has worked closely on tech sovereignty stated that Europe 'should not bow down to pressure' from potential retaliation by Trump. The EU insists the initiative is not about shutting out foreign providers but strengthening European industry and keeping the bloc competitive in the AI race.
