Published on: June 21, 2025 / update from: June 21, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
Digital independence: Europe's radical plan to loosen from the USA - the Karim Khan case was a wake -up call - Image: Xpert.digital
Bang in Brussels: EU wants to turn Microsoft back - these are the alternatives
No more dependency? What Europe's struggle for data sovereignty means for all of us
The European Union faces a significant turning point in its digital strategy. What started as a pure consideration is increasingly becoming a concrete realignment of European cloud policy, which could have far-reaching effects on the entire technology industry.
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The current starting point: dependence on American tech giants
The EU Commission is currently in advanced negotiations with OVHCloud, the largest European cloud service provider, about a possible replacement of its previous Microsoft Azure infrastructure. These discussions, which have been going on for several weeks, are part of a more comprehensive strategy to strengthen European digital sovereignty in the cloud area.
The decision is not surprising if you look at the current market situation. European companies and institutions have been heavily dependent on American cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. This dependency has proven to be problematic in a time of geopolitical tensions, since they submit to European organizations to the legal and political influences of the United States.
The wake -up call: The Karim Khan case
A particularly drastic event significantly increased the urgency of the debate about digital sovereignty. Karim Khan, the chief junction of the International Criminal Court, was excluded from his Microsoft-based email account due to US sanctions. This measure took place after the Trump administration imposed sanctions against the International Criminal Court to prevent investigations into the Gaza strip.
Microsoft quickly blocked Khan's email account, which forced the British prosecutor to switch to a Swiss email provider. At the same time, his bank accounts were frozen and all 900 employees of the International Criminal Court were prohibited from entering the United States. This procedure is called unprecedented by experts and has served as a wake-up call for everyone who is responsible for the safe availability of state and private IT infrastructures.
The incident dramatically illustrated the risks associated with the dependence on American technology companies. These can be forced to hire their services at any time if the US government orders this.
The European answer: structural changes in the EU Commission
The reaction of the EU Commission to these challenges was made possible by an important organizational innovation. For the first time, both central digital departments of the Commission - the General Directorate for Communication Networks, Contents and Technologies as well as the Directorate General for Digital Services - are subject to a single commission vice president.
Henna Virkkuns, the Finnish politician who is responsible for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, embodies this new strategic orientation. In an interview, she emphasized that technological sovereignty meant to have their own capacities in all important sectors and not to be dependent on a company or third state in critical services. This consolidation of responsibilities has made it much easier to harmonize the political and technical priorities of the EU executive.
Legal problems with Microsoft: data protection violations
In parallel to the geopolitical concerns, there have also been considerable legal problems with Microsoft. After a three-year investigation, the EU data protection officer Wojciech Wiewiórowski found that the EU Commission violated 365 against several provisions of the special data protection regulation for EU institutions.
The main criticisms concerned the inadequate protective measures for the transfer of personal data to third countries such as the USA, as well as the lack of specification of the types of data to be uploaded and their purposes. Wiwiórowski asked the Commission to stop all data transfers to Microsoft and its partners in non-EU countries by December 2024.
The EU Commission reacted to these allegations by suing the data protection officer and emphasized that their use of Microsoft 365 was in line with the data protection laws. At the same time, she argued that there were no usable alternatives. This legal dispute illustrates the complex challenges in transition to sovereign cloud solutions.
The Eurostack initiative: a vision for European technology-independence
The EU Commission's efforts are supported by the Eurostack initiative, an industry-managed movement that strives for a comprehensive European digital infrastructure. This initiative, which already combines over 250 signatories from various industries, demands massive investments in common IT platforms, data rooms, standards and coordinated strategies.
Eurostack sees itself not only as a technical initiative, but as a comprehensive industrial policy vision for Europe. The movement argues that Europe runs the risk of becoming a digital colony if it does not invest in its own technological capacity. Francesco Bonfiglio, CEO of the Italian Cloud platform Dynamo, emphasizes that the hegemony of tech giants, especially in the cloud area, is a fundamental threat to European economy and democracy.
European cloud alternatives: the competitors at a glance
The EU Commission not only checks Ovhcloud as an alternative to Microsoft Azure. Several other European cloud providers are also under discussion, including Ionos from Germany, Scaleway from France and Aruba from Italy.
These providers have already started to coordinate and develop common standards. Together with Dynamo, Ionos and Aruba have developed the SOVERGEN European Cloud API (SECA), for example, an open standard for cloud infrastructure management. This initiative aims to improve the interoperability between European cloud providers and avoid vendor-lock-in effects.
Achim Weiß, CEO of Ionos, describes this development as an indispensable building block for building a safe, independent and future -proof digital infrastructure that ensures Europe's digital sovereignty. The SECA initiative is the first component of the more comprehensive Eurostack vision.
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Microsoft's counter reaction: Digital assurance for Europe
Microsoft reacted to the growing sovereignty concerns with a number of digital assurances for Europe. The company announced five central obligations, including the expansion of the cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, the maintenance of digital resilience also in geopolitical volatile times and increased data protection measures.
With the Microsoft Soverabn Cloud, the company offers both public and private cloud solutions that are specially tailored to the needs of European customers. These include Data Guardian, which ensures that only Microsoft employees with a European residence have remote access to systems, as well as external key management for customer-controlled encryption.
The EU Data Boundary, which Microsoft introduced in 2023 and completed in 2025, promises that customer data from services such as Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 will be processed within the EU by default. However, there are still exceptions to cyber security threats and technical support that can lead to data transfers outside the EU.
Despite these efforts, many European decision -makers remain skeptical. The fact that Microsoft as an American company is ultimately subject to the US case law makes structural changes to the dependency situation difficult.
The market dynamics: growth of European cloud providers
The European cloud market is experiencing considerable growth, but is still very dominated by American providers. While the market has grown by six times since 2017 and an average annual growth rate of over 20 percent is expected by 2030, European providers still have a small market share.
This discrepancy is partly due to the massive capital investments that have made American tech giants over decades. European providers already offer extensive infrastructure-a-service solutions in the areas of computing, storage and networking, but still have catching up to do with managed services and specialized functions.
Christian Scholz from Arvato Systems argues that no single European provider has financial resources to compete with the US hyperscalers at all levels. Rather, a cooperation between the state and the economy is necessary to build internationally competitive European cloud alternatives.
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Technical and practical challenges of migration
A complete migration from Microsoft Azure to European alternatives would bring considerable technical and logistical challenges. The EU Commission uses Microsoft 365 for a variety of applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and online services such as OneDrive, teams and Sharepoint.
A change would not only require the migration of data, but also comprehensive training for thousands of employees and the adaptation of numerous work processes. In addition, new security protocols would have to be implemented and compliance requirements met.
Nevertheless, experts see an important precedent in potential migration. If the EU Commission successfully changes to a European cloud provider, this could encourage other public administrations across Europe to take similar steps. The Commission consciously sees itself as a trendsetter, who can specify the direction for the entire European digital transformation through his example.
Geopolitical implications and the role of the USA
Developments in the European cloud sector are inextricably linked to the changing transatlantic relationships. Under the Trump administration, the tensions between the United States and Europe intensified in various areas, which has reinforced European concerns about the dependence on American technology companies.
The cloud act that enables US authorities to access data stored by American technology companies, even if they are stored outside the USA, is a central point of dispute. This legal framework means that European data stored by American cloud providers are potentially subject to the US case law.
Marietje Schaake, former MP of the European Parliament and expert in cyber policy, emphasizes that there is a great wish in Europe to minimize risks and to break away from the excessive dependency on US technology companies. This wish was confirmed in an open letter by over 100 organizations that asked European politicians to become more technological independence.
Economic effects and future prospects
The potential departure of the Microsoft Azure EU Commission could have far-reaching economic effects. For Microsoft, the loss of such an important customer would mean a significant setback, especially in view of the signal effect for other European institutions and companies.
At the same time, a successful migration of European cloud providers could open up considerable growth opportunities. Ovhcloud and other European providers could benefit from increased demand for sovereign cloud solutions, which would significantly strengthen their market position.
However, the long -term effects could be even more far -reaching. A successful European cloud initiative could lay the foundation for a more comprehensive technological independence in Europe. This would not only affect the cloud computing industry, but could expand to areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other strategic technologies.
A turning point for Europe's digital future
The EU Commission's considerations of switching from Microsoft Azure to European cloud alternatives mark a potential turning point in European digital policy. What started as a technical decision has developed into a fundamental question about Europe's digital sovereignty and independence.
The combination of geopolitical tensions, legal challenges and technological possibilities creates an environment in which radical changes not only appear possible but necessary. The Karim Khan case has insistently demonstrated which risks are associated with the dependence on American technology companies.
At the same time, initiatives such as Eurostack and Seca show that Europe has technical capacities and industrial vision to build alternative digital infrastructures. The challenge is now to implement this vision into concrete political measures and investments.
Regardless of whether the EU Commission is ultimately completely switching to a European cloud provider, current developments have already initiated an important debate about the future of European digital policy. Europe is facing the choice between further dependence on American tech giants or the brave step towards digital sovereignty. The decisions of the coming months will shape the digital landscape of Europe for the next few decades.
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