When discussing IT security, we often focus on tools—antivirus, firewalls, and authentication. However, we rarely ask ourselves: whose infrastructure is it, and who has ultimate authority over it? Today, European businesses operate in dependence on American Big Tech.
The Crisis of Digital Sovereignty
The numbers are clear. According to a study by Synergy Research Group, despite Europe's enormous potential, the market share of local cloud providers has fallen to 13%. While American giants are strengthening their position, European providers—such as France's OVHcloud, Germany's T-Systems, and Orange Business—face an increasingly difficult challenge when faced with the enormous budgets and reach of US companies. Currently, three US players—AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google—control over 72% of the European cloud market.
Why did cloud dominate the market?
The massive shift to the cloud isn’t a passing trend; it is a fundamental change in how companies are built. Just a decade ago, launching a new project meant months of waiting for hardware, building your own server rooms, and taking on enormous financial risks. The cloud changed everything– suddenly, every organization, from startups to corporations, gained near-instant access to massive technological resources.
We chose this model because it promised us freedom from managing physical machines. Instead of spending millions upfront, we started paying only for what we actually used. This approach has become the standard, as evidenced by Microsoft Azure: a staggering 54.7% of organizations base their infrastructure on a pay-as-you-go subscription. This flexibility allowed companies to grow almost overnight. Added to this was the convenience of ready-made analytical and AI tools available immediately, eliminating the need for extensive in-house technical support, which until now was necessary to operate such complex systems.
It's this speed of operation that has made the cloud a commonplace for businesses. However, today, with 72% of the market held by a few players, this same convenience is starting to show its other side, creating a dependency that's increasingly difficult to break.
Legal Challenges of Big Tech
Most companies assume that if their data is physically located on a server in Europe, it is fully protected by EU law. However, this is a dangerous oversimplification. In reality, data is subject to the laws of the country where the technology provider originates.
Two worlds, two different laws
Loss of control over service availability
This is the most immediate threat to the day-to-day operations of an organization. In a public cloud model, the provider has the technical and legal tools to immediately disconnect a user from services. These decisions are often made by automated systems that can misinterpret customer activity as a violation of regulations or a security threat. In such a situation, the company loses access to its data, email, and sales systems, leading to a business shutdown.
The American algorithm that stopped a European institution
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague operates with the highest level of confidentiality: witness statements, evidence of crimes, and secret diplomatic documents. It's a place where information security should be inviolable.
However, in 2024, according to Heise, one of the prosecutors of the International Criminal Court suddenly lost access to his Microsoft 365 email. This happened at the worst possible moment – precisely when he was working on an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister. Officially, security systems deemed his activity suspicious and automatically blocked his account. However, it's hard not to connect this with the fact that the case involved a key US ally. This sends a clear message to any organization: using the US cloud doesn't mean you can't count on complete freedom. The provider has technical keys to your work and can use them as soon as your actions become inconvenient.
No guarantee of safety
The European Commission itself has learned that this is not just a theoretical problem. In March 2024, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) found that the EC had violated data protection regulations by using Microsoft 365 software. It turned out that even with its extensive legal resources, the institution was unable to fully guarantee that data would not be shared with entities outside the EU in a manner inconsistent with our standards.
Vendor Lock-in
The public cloud model is extremely user-friendly, but it becomes a trap when a company wants to regain control and switch providers.
How is the barrier created?
Technology
Unique tools and data formats that only work in one system force you to rebuild your IT processes from scratch when you try to make changes.
Finances
Low entry costs vs. high exit costs. Migration becomes unprofitable, even if the competition offers better service.
Dependence
Permanent loss of influence on operating costs and IT strategy due to dependence on unilateral changes to the supplier's price list.
What makes it difficult to change supplier?
The British market regulator, Ofcom, has identified a specific mechanism that prevents companies from freely switching technologies. These are known as egress fees – fees that only arise when attempting to transfer resources to another provider.
The scale of this phenomenon was revealed by internal AWS documentsthat were leaked to the media.
Apple paid $50 million for data transfer alone in just one year.
Netflix was charged more than $15 million.
The cost of transferring Pinterest assets was over $20 million.
Sovereignty on paper, control overseas
Did you know that the "European cloud" is sometimes just a clever marketing ploy? Sovereignty washing involves selling services that are sovereign in name only, while a global giant still holds the technical reins.
In March 2026, CISPE published a letter that helps distinguish marketing from real control. True autonomy is only possible when:
Management software and encryption keys have no hidden links to entities outside the EU.
The company is protected from the influence of external legal systems.
Billions fleeing Europe
We must be aware that our current situation is not just a technical issue, but above all a massive capital drain. According to a European Parliament 2025 100 flows from Europe to foreign software and cloud providers 264 € 1.5% of the European Union's entire GDP.
What does this mean in practice?
Lost jobs
If we kept just 15% of these funds in Europe, we could create around 500,000 new jobs in our technology sector by 2035.
Innovation based on someone else's foundation
By locking ourselves into off-the-shelf systems from the US or Asia, our companies are giving up control over intellectual property and data. This puts us in a weaker negotiating position on both trade and security issues.
No contingency plan
By relying solely on suppliers from other continents, we risk having global politics directly impact our companies. A change in trade arrangements is enough to block us or force us to drastically raise prices.
Going beyond the pattern
Sovereign IT isn't just about data protection. In a world where technology is the new oil, being sovereign is simply being secure.
Simply regulating the giants is only half the battle. Real change begins with a shift in approach. North America currently doesn't offer enough opportunities for companies globally, which is a signal for us to build our own strength.
Application?
Just as MFA is now the bare minimum for logins, digital independence is becoming a must-have for every savvy company. It's time to stop renting technology and start controlling it.
Not every company needs to completely abandon Microsoft or Google, but it's worth knowing what your options are. Use the contact form, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. We'll analyze where your data resides, which flows are critical, and which services can be migrated to European or local infrastructure.
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