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6mo ago

Europe Steps Up Digital Sovereignty Drive as France Moves Off U.S. Video Platforms

EU leaders describe the pivot as a security measure to reduce outside leverage over core digital infrastructure.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the structural imperative for Europe to build a new form of independence
Since Donald Trump's Greenland climbdown, top officials have stepped up warnings that Europe is dangerously exposed to geopolitical shocks
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Overview

  • France plans to migrate 2.5 million civil servants from Zoom, Teams, Webex and GoTo Meeting to the state‑built Visio platform by 2027.
  • EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen is set to present a sovereignty package in March covering cloud, artificial intelligence and chips.
  • Concerns intensified after U.S. sanctions on International Criminal Court officials led to a service disconnection, fueling fears of a potential American tech "kill switch."
  • Google, Microsoft and Amazon control roughly 70% of Europe’s cloud infrastructure, a dominance analysts say makes complete autonomy unrealistic without coordinated procurement and investment.
  • Regional and institutional moves are gathering pace, with Schleswig‑Holstein shifting tens of thousands of mailboxes to open‑source tools, the European Parliament reviewing its reliance on Microsoft, and U.S. firms promoting European "sovereign cloud" options as Microsoft issues assurances on data staying under EU law.