Europe Accelerates Digital Decoupling from US Big Tech Amidst Geopolitical Shifts
From the European Commission’s long-term strategy to municipal migrations away from Microsoft and Google, the continent is prioritising digital independence despite US market dominance.
European governments and public institutions are accelerating efforts to reduce their dependence on US technology giants, driven by concerns over data sovereignty, US sanctions, and geopolitical tensions following the start of President Donald Trump’s second administration. The European Commission has launched official long-term plans to decrease reliance on American technology, while the European Parliament has switched its default search engine from Google to the French alternative Qwant.
Thousands of French government workers are adopting the open-source office software LaSuite, with officials aiming to break free from dependence on US firms. Additionally, an open-source document suite called Euro-Office, developed by more than a dozen European tech companies, is set for imminent launch. Municipalities across the Netherlands, France, and Germany are also moving away from Microsoft Office and Google Docs.
The shift extends beyond productivity software. The Dutch government is migrating its code repository from Microsoft-owned GitHub to a local alternative. In a series of decisions, Finland reportedly decided against moving its election data to Amazon Web Services, while the organisation managing Belgium’s .be top-level domain has announced plans to move away from AWS. Eurosky, an interoperable alternative to Bluesky on the AT Protocol, has also been launched.
These moves are attributed to the start of President Donald Trump’s second administration last year, which has energised European entities to take control of their digital future. Specific concerns include US sanctions against officials linked to the International Criminal Court, which prompted the court itself to move away from Microsoft technology. Marietje Schaake, a former European Parliament member and Stanford University fellow, described the Trump administration’s policies as a wake-up call.
Despite the enthusiasm, entirely unpicking Europe’s connections to US technology remains difficult. A recent European Parliament report notes that US firms continue to dominate almost every layer of Europe’s digital stack, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and mobile operating systems. However, the trend toward digital independence is underway, with a German state minister in Bavaria stating that Europe needs to move from talking to doing regarding digital sovereignty.
