Europe bids for digital sovereignty amid Russia threats, Trump
A European minister tells CNBC digital sovereignty is a “matter of national survival” as the continent struggles Dismantling the dominance of US digital services In its infrastructure amidst geopolitical tensions.
The region’s dependence on US technology and military As relations with President Donald Trump’s administration have deteriorated amid challenges from China and Russia, protection has become even more prominent.
Trump alarmed Europe by imposing tariffs after returning to the White House last year. This year, Denmark’s provocative dismissal and subsequent rejection of the possibility of military action to seize the semi-autonomous region of Greenland caused further alarm.
US cloud providers dominate the European market with an 85% share. Data from Synergy Research Group.
Critics warn that this reliance on non-sovereign providers is a risk, amid increasing cyberattacks from Russia and rising geopolitical tensions with the US administration. Under the 2018 Cloud Act, the country’s law enforcement agencies can request user data from American companies regardless of where the data is stored.
‘A matter of national survival’
Estonia told CNBC it was stepping up its “open source first” policy due to “increasing security threats on Europe’s eastern flank.” Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine has raised fears it could target the Baltic states, including Estonia.
“This has made digital sovereignty a matter of national survival, not just IT policy,” said Liisa Pakosta, the country’s minister of justice and digital affairs. he said.
Other European governments told CNBC how they are exploring domestic and open-source alternatives to U.S. tech platforms and increasing budgets for digital sovereignty.
“Strengthening digital sovereignty is one of the main goals” of the current German government, a spokesperson for the federal ministry responsible for digital transformation and government modernization told CNBC, citing “geopolitical developments” in recent years.
“The current situation is characterized by high volatility and ongoing conflicts,” they said, adding that multilateral structures are being questioned due to “tense” relations between the United States and Europe.
However, Amazon, Microsoft and Google control more than 70% of the cloud market in the region; US companies hold at least 59% of the enterprise software market.
In January, France announced it would launch Visio, a government-developed videoconferencing tool that it said would be available across all government services by 2027, replacing U.S. tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Same month EU in question “it faced a significant problem of dependence on non-EU countries in the digital space… potentially creating vulnerabilities, including in critical sectors.”
The Belgian federal government is “re-evaluating its dependencies in the digital sphere, starting with the most critical areas,” a spokesperson for the digitalisation minister told CNBC.
“In this context, alongside the analysis of the federal data center environment, a Belgian cloud computing strategy for the federal administration is also being examined,” they added. “This approach aims to address issues around data sovereignty, resilience and security, including the storage of the most sensitive data.”
Many European countries have said they have been subjected to Russian state-sponsored cyber attacks in recent years. The EU said it observed “a pattern of deliberate and systematic malicious behavior attributed to Russia”. expression in July.
Estonian Pakosta said: “While we value our technological partnerships, relying solely on closed, proprietary ‘black box’ solutions creates a strategic vulnerability.”
“Open source ensures that we have full control over the code and can keep the Estonian digital state running locally, even if global connections are lost or external vendor policies change,” he added.
Pakosta added that the country is increasing investments to strengthen sovereign digital capabilities in the 2026 state budget.
Open source alternatives to US technology systems are increasingly being explored by European governments.
Denmark said it would launch a pilot open-source alternative to Microsoft Office for some government employees in June. “Too much public digital infrastructure currently depends on too few foreign suppliers,” said the Minister for Digital Affairs. Caroline Stage Olsen said in a translated LinkedIn post at the time. “This makes us vulnerable.”
GLADSAXE, DENMARK – 2025/08/13: Minister for Digital Affairs Caroline Stage Olsen seen after phase 2 of PostNord Danmark Rundt 2025. (Photo: Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Stick Pictures | Light Rocket | Getty Images
But a spokesperson for the ministry downplayed the move when contacted by CNBC. Officials described the pilot as “minor” and added that it was aimed at “increasing our understanding of alternative technologies” and that no decisions had been made to move away from Microsoft and Windows.
Europe’s dependence on US technology solutions
In November, all 27 European Union member states signed a declaration stating their common goal to “strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty and reduce ‘strategic dependencies’.”
Spending on dominant cloud infrastructure-as-a-service platforms in European countries will more than triple According to a recent report from research firm Gartner, this figure is projected to rise to $23 billion in Europe by 2027, compared to 2025 levels; A much larger increase than in North America and China.
“As geopolitical tensions increase, organizations outside the US and China are investing more in sovereign cloud IaaS to gain digital and technological independence,” said Rene Buest, senior managing analyst at Gartner.
“Governments will continue to be the main recipients of meeting digital sovereignty needs, followed by regulated industries and critical infrastructure organizations such as energy, utilities and telecommunications,” he added.
US tech platforms won’t disappear from Europe anytime soon. In comments to CNBC, many European countries emphasized that they are still willing to continue working with American technology companies for certain aspects of their digital infrastructure.
“We recognize and value the role that US technology companies have long played in Europe’s digital transformation,” Estonian Pakosta said. “American hyperscalers are important and reliable partners of the European cloud ecosystem.”
Even if they wanted to completely remove US digital systems from Europe’s technology infrastructure, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“To become a leading player, you need to continually invest heavily in research, service development, technical infrastructure, customer support and channel partners,” John Dinsdale, principal analyst at Synergy Research Group, told CNBC.
“It will be incredibly difficult for European cloud providers to meaningfully reverse the market share trend,” he added.
