The European Union is investing hundreds of millions of euros to gain control over its citizens' data. The new "sovereign cloud" plan is intended to free Europe from dependence on the American tech giants - and it may directly affect where and how your data is stored.
The European Commission has taken a significant step toward strengthening the European Union's digital sovereignty, announcing the results of a tender for sovereign cloud services. On the sixteenth of April, in Brussels, the Commission reported that a contract worth up to one hundred and eighty million euros had been awarded to four European providers.
This agreement, which is to remain in force for a period of six years, will enable the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to make use of advanced, secure and fully sovereign cloud solutions.
The large-scale use of EU cloud computing is a precondition for increasing the EU's digital sovereignty. The Commission is leading by example, as the call for tenders for the sovereign cloud sets a new benchmark for what "sovereignty" means in practice when it comes to cloud services - we read on the European Commission's website.
The selected providers represent Europe's largest capabilities in the field of cloud computing. Among them is Luxembourg's Post Telecom, operating in partnership with France's CleverCloud and OVHcloud, companies known for their innovative and scalable solutions. The next providers are Germany's STACKIT, as well as France's Scaleway, which offer modern infrastructure tailored to the needs of the public sector. Also among them is Proximus, which cooperates with S3NS, a joint venture of Thales and Google Cloud, as well as with Clarence and Mistral. Such a configuration is intended to allow European expertise to be combined with carefully selected technologies under strict control, and to ensure a high level of innovation and reliability.
The award of four parallel contracts is, from the EU's point of view, of crucial importance for diversification and building resilience. By avoiding concentration on a single provider, the Commission minimizes the risks associated with possible outages, cyberattacks or political pressure. This is particularly important in the context of the growing significance of data and information processing in the functioning of public administration, the economy and citizens' everyday lives. A sovereign cloud means not only storing information on servers located in Europe, but above all full control over who has access to the data and how it is processed.
In this case, the European Commission is following its own example, establishing a new benchmark for the definition of sovereign cloud services. Through the large-scale deployment of European cloud solutions among EU entities, the EU demonstrates that such services can be not only secure and legally compliant, but also competitive in terms of quality and cost. This initiative also has an impact on the entire market, encouraging manufacturers and providers from across the Union to align their offerings with the highest European standards.
This package will include, among other things, an open source strategy, which promotes open code and collaboration in software development. Another element is the Chips Act 2, continuing efforts to strengthen European semiconductor production and reduce dependence on supplies from Asia. The package will also include the Strategic Roadmap for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in the Energy Sector, aimed at supporting the energy transition through modern digital technologies. The central piece of legislation, however, will be the Cloud and AI Development Act, or CADA for short. This act aims to harmonize the definition of sovereignty for cloud-based and artificial-intelligence-based services across the entire single market.
The tender for the "sovereign" clouds was launched back in October 2025 under the Cloud III DPS dynamic purchasing system. The procedure was competitive in nature, which is intended to ensure the selection of the best possible solutions. The entire operation forms part of the European Union's long-term strategy aimed at achieving strategic technological autonomy. In the longer term, such measures are expected to bring tangible economic benefits. Strengthening the cloud sector in Europe is expected to translate into the creation of highly specialized jobs, increased investment in research and development, and an overall rise in the European Union's innovativeness.
