- The European Commission is preparing for the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA)
- CISPE leaders are asking Europe's Tech Sovereignty EVP to carefully consider five requests
- Reducing reliance on US hyperscalers could still take years
Twenty-four European cloud CEOs are urging the European Union to ensure that the upcoming Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) actually protects European sovereignty, rather than just implementing token gestures.
In the letter addressed to EU EVP for Tech Sovereignty Henna Virkkunen, the leaders warn of "sovereignty washing," which could actually allow American hyperscalers to continue driving their dominance.
"This first comprehensive European cloud policy should strengthen Europe’s digital capacity by prioritising procurement and investment in sovereign European solutions that foster a competitive cloud ecosystem," they write.
CISPE-backed European cloud CEOs push for tech sovereignty
The letter sets out five core demands to Virkkunen: sovereignty by control, where the bloc focuses on ownership, governance and legal protection; resilience where sovereignty may not be possible; reserved procurement shares for European cloud providers where sensitive data is concerned; a push for competition and interoperability; and strategic investment in European companies.
The upcoming CADA aims to address concerns around US hyperscalers, with AWS, Azure and Google Cloud collectively accounting for around 70% of the EU's cloud market.
Adding to that, Microsoft has even stated that it cannot fully guarantee EU data sovereignty on the basis that it must comply with US legal orders.
However, even a considered balance of the upcoming CADA and CISPE-backed leaders' demands, it could take years or even decades for Europe to reach a position where it's no longer reliant on US tech.
"CADA is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put Europe back on the front foot in the digital economy, and we must not squander it by legitimising ‘sovereignty-washing’," CISPE Secretary General Francisco Mingorance added.
The European Commission has not yet publicly responded to CISPE's letter.
