Dutch Parliament aims for independence by creating a national cloud and reevaluating US tech partnerships.
The Netherlands wants to create a national cloud and provide European payment options. Following worries about cybersecurity and autonomy, the Dutch Parliament is acting decisively to lessen its reliance on US cloud technology. A number of resolutions calling on the government to cut off its connections with U.S. cloud providers were passed on March 21, 2025. Reliance on US technology is described in these motions as a "threat to autonomy and cybersecurity," a view that is shared by other officials.
The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) is concerned about Europe's reliance on American businesses for its electronic transaction infrastructure, pointing out that Visa and MasterCard control the majority of card payment systems. The ongoing discussion over Dutch cloud service providers, which have been discussed since at least 2022, are accelerated by the DNB's latest criticism.
The Dutch Court of Auditors revealed in January 2025 that ministries had unwittingly used public cloud services like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services, which raised concerns about possible security threats. As a result, demands were made for the creation of a national cloud infrastructure that would be fully governed by the Dutch. This strategy shift seeks to provide more independence from US monitoring in addition to protecting private communications and data.
Additionally, a noteworthy component of this new approach is the reexamination of current agreements with US IT behemoths. Specifically, one resolution supports giving European companies preference in public procurement procedures and urges the government to reconsider its use of Amazon Web Services to host the Netherlands' internet domain.
Although some of these reserves were repatriated in 2014, DNB Governor Klaas Knot has reiterated the assets' safety, pointing out those strong agreements with the Fed guard against any political abuse. Europe's future will require significant work in creating domestic solutions to guarantee that reliance on outside influences is eliminated.
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