How can Europe leverage laws to secure cloud sovereignty?
Europe doesn’t have to choose between acting fast and building a solid foundation for sovereignty.
European organizations face a dilemma between embracing modern cloud technology and maintaining control over their own data. Geopolitical instability, stricter regulations, and the growing use of artificial intelligence have made sovereignty a key concern on board-level risk discussions. Europe needs a clear definition of what sovereignty means, and the European Commission's forthcoming Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) offers that clarity.
However, simply labeling a service as "sovereign" is not enough. Open source software, while a licensing model, does not solve issues related to infrastructure, jurisdiction, or reliability. Hence, a definition would allow policymakers to properly assess sovereignty claims based on consistent standards rather than marketing claims.
European cloud service providers (CSPs) are already partnering with established tech firms to deliver real sovereign capabilities. While CADA's roadmap suggests it may take 5 to 7 years to triple EU data-center capacity, established providers who have already built capacity by combining EU and non-EU technologies can continue growing without waiting for domestic capacity to catch up.
Italy's IPZS, a government-owned entity, is already using this partnership model to build a digital application platform for the EU digital identity initiative. The key is recognizing that partnerships between local operators and proven technology providers can accelerate European sovereignty while avoiding the pitfalls of waiting for a fully homegrown technological stack.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
