President Trump’s returns to the White House spread fears across Europe, with active efforts to reduce European reliance on US-based cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, all while governments and businesses worldwide prioritize data sovereignty requirements and digital autonomy.
The EU data sovereignty fear isn’t political, it’s also digital, but concerns are also proliferating when it comes to data privacy, legal access, and geopolitical tensions, with the majority now looking for homegrown solutions to maintain secure and sovereign digital infrastructure.
Digital Divorce in Motion
Data sovereignty requirements tensions have hit a new level across Europe. While cloud giants like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud power most of the globe’s internet, some European firms now view them as dangers in an uncertain political climate.
“There’s a huge appetite in Europe to de-risk or decouple the over-dependence on US tech companies,” stated Marietje Schaake, a member at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center, adding, “there is a concern that they could be weaponized against European interests.”
On March 18, the Netherlands voted in favor of eight motions that force the government to reduce its reliance on US tech firms. Last week, over 100 organizations signed an open letter calling for European tech independence, warning the existing setup imposes “security and reliability risks.”
European cloud providers like Exoscale and Elastx are experiencing growing demand from companies seeking alternatives to US hyperscalers. Businesses, specifically in Denmark and Sweden, are leading this switch, endorsed by a rooted desire for greater data sovereignty and long-term control.
Even though EU data sovereignty regulations are progressing slowly, the message is loud and clear: In the coming months, the Eu is determined to reclaim its digital future.
EU Cloud Spans Ahead as Trump Wreaks Havoc
European tech companies are reevaluating their cloud computing centralization and data sovereignty solutions, fearing Trump’s administration could tighten US control over their data, privacy, and digital sovereignty.
Trump’s recent dismissal of the three Democrats from the US Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board heightened European unease, with the cloud computing data sovereignty risking already destabilizing an already fragile EU-US data-sharing agreements.
For the meantime, worries persist over data sovereignty in Europe, especially over the CLOUD Act – grants US authorities access to data globally – clashing with the very notion of European digital sovereignty.
Dave Cottlehuber, founder of the Austrian company SkunkWerks already transferred data from US servers, highlighting that for him “privacy is a right, not a privilege,” adding “the best thing I can do is… make sure that my customers’ privacy is respected and preserved.”
Steffen Schmidt, CEO of Medicusdata, reports a shift among his clients, expressing how “since the beginning of 2025… customers have actively asked us to use cloud providers that are natively European companies.”
US cloud giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS) are resisting the data sovereignty requirements, with spokesperson Harry Staight insisting that customers retain “full control” over their data and encryption, dismissing any customer migration claim as “not accurate.”
Despite that, alternatives are on the way. Marko Saric insists that traffic on the European Alternatives website has been up 1,200% since January. “We can certainly feel that something is going on,” Marko insists.
If these fears spread the government cloud computing and national data sovereignty will not take place and Europe will remain in fear.
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