EU firms tell Brussels: digital sovereignty is hard
European companies warned the EU that rapidly reducing reliance on US cloud and AI vendors is unrealistic in the short term, a message captured in coverage of the digital sovereignty debate as Brussels balances strategic autonomy with practical dependence reported. The push includes parallel upskilling efforts like Google’s 'AI Works for Europe' program.
Top executives from ASML, Ericsson, Capgemini and Deutsche Bank told Brussels that trying to untangle mission‑critical stacks from US cloud and AI vendors at pace would trigger “major costs and disruption,” according to reporting of businesses’ warnings to EU officials. (digit.fyi) Synergy Research Group reported the European cloud market reached about €61 billion in 2024 and that Amazon, Microsoft and Google together now account for roughly 70% of the regional market. (srgresearch.com) Synergy’s data show European cloud providers hold only about 15% of local market share, with SAP and Deutsche Telekom each at approximately 2%, underscoring the scale gap Brussels would need to close. (srgresearch.com) A European Parliament report found the bloc “relies on non‑EU countries for over 80% of digital products, services, infrastructure and intellectual property,” a metric cited inside Brussels’ sovereignty debate. (france24.com) Analysts such as Forrester have judged immediate decoupling unrealistic for 2026 while advising phased strategies, and industry forecasts put European tech spending above €1.5 trillion in 2026 as firms budget for cloud, AI and sovereign alternatives. (cio.com) Telecom and infrastructure CEOs — including leaders at Eutelsat, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica — warned Brussels that a coherent, pro‑investment regulatory overhaul is required to build local capacity, and Telefónica flagged automotive, e‑health and public services as priority sectors for sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure. (sdxcentral.com) Google announced an “AI Works for Europe” initiative committing roughly $30 million to training and said it aims to reach about 50,000 workers while expanding its Google AI Professional Certificate into ten European languages. (windowsreport.com)
