The Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs have ruffled feathers across the world — and reignited Europe’s push for digital sovereignty.
One of the key focus points has been Europe’s cloud infrastructure, which is currently dominated by US tech giants: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Together, the “big three” account for more than 50% of the continent’s cloud market.
“Europe has been heavily reliant on US tech and cloud for decades,” said Mark Boost, CEO of UK-based web hosting company Civo. “But there are alternatives, where France, Germany, and the UK have full control of their data and cloud landscape.”
Trump’s tariffs, Boost added, had “cemented the idea that Europe can no longer afford to rely on the US for its digital infrastructure.”
Thankfully, Europe has loads of homegrown cloud providers. The largest is France’s OVHcloud, which runs the world’s largest data centre by surface area. Others include Finland’s UpCloud, Switzerland’s Exoscale, Germany’s IONOS, and France’s Scaleway (the cloud provider of choice for French AI unicorn Mistral).
These alternative cloud providers may not match the scale and breadth of services offered by the US hyperscalers. They do, however, offer something very attractive in these uncertain geopolitical times: data sovereignty and privacy.
As Alexander Samsig, senior consultant and partner at Norwegian tech consultancy Funktive, put it in a recent blog post: “In 2025, the choice of a cloud provider isn’t just about technology or price.”
Boost echoes that sentiment. “A sovereign European cloud could foster an ecosystem defined by fairness and transparency, in which domestic providers can compete, and customers have maximum freedom to choose the service that’s right for them,” he said.
It’s not a pipedream, either — Europe has cut its dependence on powerful American tech before and can do it again.
Europeans once relied entirely on the US for GPS access, but today, smartphone users on the continent can access navigation through the EU’s Galileo satellite system. Launched in 2016, Galileo is one of the world’s best satellite networks, and unlike others, it’s a civilian system designed with secure service provision at its core. It cost around €10bn to build and deploy.
If Europe is truly committed to building sovereign cloud infrastructure, it will need to back up its ambitions with significant investment.
“Allocating funding for domestic sovereign clouds would also go a long way to supporting domestic industries, and would send a clear signal that Europe can chart an independent path from the US and China,” said Boost.
Political momentum on this front looks to be building. In a speech yesterday, France’s AI minister, Clara Chappaz, called on the continent to “work as a pack” to take on US “predator” tech firms, particularly in the cloud services sector.
To shield Europe from US tech dominance, Chappaz urged the bloc to enforce its digital rulebook, stand up to Trump’s “idiotic” trade war, and hit back with digital taxes on Big Tech — if required.
She also slammed “sovereignty washing” — when US cloud giants partner with EU firms to appear sovereign — and backed strict standards like France’s SecNumCloud certification, which disqualifies foreign-owned providers based on shareholding caps.
Chappaz said Europe is finally “waking up” to the need for true cloud independence. The minister also claimed that both OVHcloud and Scaleway saw record client growth since Trump took office.
Europe’s digital sovereignty will be a hot topic at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale. Use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the check-out to get 30% off the price tag.