Europe’s cloud sovereignty rules could do more harm than good
Report warns that sovereignty is being used to favor selected national providers and could stifle pan-Europe clouds
A new report criticizes the European Union's proposed Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) for potentially doing more harm than good in promoting cloud sovereignty among member states. According to the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), the legislation's dual focus on security and resilience objectives, as well as industrial policy objectives, risks fragmenting European digital markets.
Research conducted by the ECIPE examined public cloud contracts in nine EU member states and found that every contract invoking the concept of sovereignty favored domestic providers over those based in other EU countries. This trend highlights a highly concentrated market where cloud procurement is already dominated by national providers.
The report argues that the confusion over cloud sovereignty, which can represent either security and resilience or an industrial policy objective, is the root of the problem. ECIPE urges a more coherent approach that maintains resilience objectives while introducing technological neutrality requirements to preserve interoperability, portability, and multi-cloud options.
The findings suggest that the CADA's vague drafting may unintentionally favor established providers, potentially exacerbating fragmentation in Europe's cloud market.
Written by urgent.news from The Register's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
