Digital sovereignty is real in Europe. The UK? Not so much
The Register's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols argues that unpredictability from Donald Trump's administration is accelerating a genuine push towards "digital sovereignty" across Europe and beyond, as governments and businesses seek to reduce dependence on American software giants and cloud providers. He contrasts this growing momentum with the UK's continued reliance on US technology, suggesting Britain has been slower to act despite facing the same risks as its European neighbours.
The piece cites several concrete examples: the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern replacing Microsoft SharePoint with Nextcloud and OpenProject, with Bavaria following a similar path, and Ireland scrapping a Microsoft procurement potentially worth €1 billion after opposition politicians questioned why open-source alternatives were never considered. Irish officials, including Government CIO Louise McKeever, described digital sovereignty as a national security issue, while opposition figures suggested alternatives such as LibreOffice and Linux. Airbus was also highlighted for moving critical applications from AWS to French provider Scaleway to keep sensitive data under European control, illustrating that the sovereignty drive extends beyond governments into major private enterprises.
In short
- European states/firms shift from Microsoft/AWS towards sovereign, open-source tech
- Ireland cancelled a €1bn Microsoft deal amid sovereignty concerns
- Airbus moved critical systems from AWS to French cloud provider Scaleway
- Author says the UK lags behind Europe on reducing US tech dependence
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The push for digital sovereignty reflects legitimate concerns about strategic dependence and security. When American companies can be compelled to comply with US government demands and administrations prove unpredictable, European governments and businesses have reasonable grounds to seek alternatives that keep sensitive data under their own jurisdiction and control. European and open-source solutions have matured considerably, as evidenced by successful implementations in Germany and Ireland, making the shift both technically feasible and strategically prudent for protecting European citizens and maintaining independent decision-making capacity.
The case against
The case for the UK's current approach is that American technology companies have built genuinely superior products through vast investment and competition, offering reliability, ecosystem integration and support that European alternatives still struggle to match at scale. Fragmenting technology infrastructure along geographical lines based on political concerns rather than technical merit could increase costs, reduce innovation through lost economies of scale, and disadvantage European businesses competing globally. The UK's pragmatic integration with best-of-breed global solutions, regardless of origin, may serve citizens and businesses better than pursuing digital sovereignty as a political objective.
Explained simply
Digital sovereignty refers to a country's ability to maintain control over its own digital infrastructure and data, rather than depending heavily on foreign technology companies. European governments and major businesses have begun working actively to reduce their reliance on American software and cloud providers, turning instead to locally developed or open-source alternatives.
Several European countries have already taken concrete steps. German state governments have replaced Microsoft applications with open-source software, whilst Ireland cancelled a Microsoft contract worth approximately €1 billion after questioning why such alternatives had not been properly considered. Major companies like Airbus have also moved sensitive work from American cloud services to European-based providers to keep their data under local control.
The United Kingdom has been slower to pursue similar digital independence strategies despite facing comparable risks. This difference is significant because it affects government operations and British businesses that remain heavily dependent on American technology providers.
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