Europe stands at a crossroads.
Today, Europe remains highly dependent on non-EU cloud providers. The Draghi report reminds us that 90% of EU data is currently transferred to third countries - an unsustainable loss of value and control. If current trends continue, Europe risks near-total dependency on non-EU cloud providers in only a few years. A shared commitment to cloud sovereignty is therefore indispensable for Europe's technological independence and competitiveness. This is a make-or-break moment, and the European cloud industry is ready to deliver. We have the talent, the technology, and the ambition. Now, we need the political will to match.
There is demand for EU sovereign cloud.
Ensuring trust, transparency, and long-term resilience in the European cloud market is a must for citizens, the public sector and businesses of all types. Robust and transparent sovereignty criteria at EU level are necessary for cloud users to navigate the increasing geopolitical complexity, protect their data and intellectual property, avoid the risk of shutdown or degradation of service, and to be able to make informed choices.
The European cloud industry wants to be part of the solution.
European cloud providers are already providing secure, trusted, highly performant and innovative services. These solutions are designed to meet European users' highest standards for data protection, resilience, and sovereignty. To overcome fragmentation, increase transparency in the market, and enable EU solutions to scale, we need greater ambition and a coordinated approach at the European level.
What we need now is decisive action.
1. A clear definition of sovereign cloud in the Cloud and AI Development Act (CAIDA)
This definition must prioritize European control, data localization (i.e. storage & processing in the EU), and measures to protect Europe's most sensitive data from unlawful data access, including on the basis of extraterritorial laws, while ensuring continuity of service.
2. A strategic public procurement policy to support EU sovereign cloud services
The public sector, across all Member States, must act as an anchor customer for EU sovereign cloud services. We call for clear rules on public procurement to ensure the use of EU sovereign cloud services for the processing of sensitive data. This will be key to achieve the market scale needed to promote the sustainable growth of European alternatives and sovereign cloud offerings.
We must act now.
The European industry is united, committed, and ready. With the right framework, we can increase transparency, trust, and technological capacity in Europe while scaling up European sovereign cloud services that serve Europe's citizens, businesses, and governments.
Let's seize this opportunity to secure Europe's digital future. Together.
Signatories: A1 Digital, Airbus, ASD (AeroSpace and Defense Industries Association of Europe), Bertrandt, CloudFerro, Cloud Temple, Dassault Aviation, Dassault Systèmes, European DIGITAL SME Alliance, evroc, IONOS, Klarrio, OpenNebula, Orange, OVHcloud, POST Luxembourg, Schwarz Digits, Sopra Steria, T-Systems, TIM (Gruppo TIM), Tuxis