EU unveils tech sovereignty package to curb reliance on US cloud, chips and AI

The sovereignty package

The European Commission unveiled its long-awaited "tech sovereignty package" on Wednesday, a set of legislative and industrial measures designed to reduce the bloc's structural dependence on non-European digital suppliers. More than 80 percent of the EU's digital products, services and infrastructure currently come from external markets, chiefly the United States and Asia. The Commission estimates that Europe spends roughly €264 billion each year purchasing digital products and services from outside powers.

We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure.

Cloud and AI Development Act

The package's centrepiece is the proposed EU Cloud and AI Development Act. It introduces a four-tier sovereignty framework for public procurement: from a general obligation to store data within Europe, up to reinforced requirements in the most sensitive domains such as security and defence. In a limited number of critical cases, contracts would be reserved exclusively for EU-based providers. Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen stressed that most contracts would remain open to non-European firms.

We want to be sure that in critical areas, we will always be able to control the services and keep the data in Europe. We do not want to find ourselves in a situation where someone has a kill switch to disconnect our services.

Chips Act 2.0 and open source

Brussels also proposed a major update to the 2023 EU chips regulation, dubbed Chips Act 2.0, aiming to accelerate permitting for new fabrication plants, introduce a European "excellence label," and provide financial support for industrial projects — though no funding figures were disclosed. The package is complemented by a strategy to boost open-source software adoption in public administrations and a roadmap for digitising energy networks using AI.

Data centres and AI hubs

The Commission wants to triple European data-centre capacity within the next five to seven years and will create new AI hubs to strengthen the continent's artificial-intelligence industry. A new "Eurocloud" forum would encourage member states to share digital capacities, while national governments would be required to draw up strategies for adopting cutting-edge technologies.

Geopolitical context

The initiative is motivated in part by concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's perceived weaponisation of Europe's dependence on American technology. The proposals, which will now be negotiated by EU member states and the European Parliament, risk reviving trade tensions with Washington. The Commission maintains that the package strengthens Europe's digital autonomy while keeping the economy open to global partners.

In a world where geopolitics and technology are inseparable, it is time for Europe to take back control of its data, its supply chains and its future, in a clean and sustainable way.