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The European Commission selects Post Telecom, STACKIT, Scaleway, and Proximus to deliver cloud services meeting strict sovereignty standards, reinforcing EU digital independence.
Four companies from the continent of Europe have been selected by the EU Commission to provide a value of €180 million in cloud computing services in a period of six years. Such contracts help to enhance the digital sovereignty of the European Union as it gives greater control to the Commission over their IT architecture, reducing dependency on non-European vendors.
The four contracts have been awarded simultaneously in order to increase the diversity of service providers and avoid dependence on any one of them. The four winners have been assessed against the Cloud Sovereignty Framework established by the Commission based on eight objectives. These objectives cover areas like strategic autonomy, compliance with laws and regulations, operational independence, and supply chain transparency. The companies that won contracts should maintain assurance levels to ensure that non-European third parties do not have substantial influence on their technology and services.
This procurement sets a new benchmark for European digital sovereignty. The Commission explicitly leads by example, using this tender to establish what sovereignty practically means for EU sovereign cloud services for institutions and agencies. The successful deployment demonstrates that European providers can deliver enterprise-grade solutions meeting the strictest security and independence criteria.
The Commission is working on revising its Sovereignty Framework criteria and creating its Tech Sovereignty package, which includes the Cloud and Artificial Intelligence Development Act (CADA). The CADA aims at aligning the definitions of sovereignty within the single market, providing more opportunities for different cloud providers while promoting market access for new European players.
Business Honor notes that the €180 million grant will consolidate EU strategic dominance over crucial digital infrastructure while prompting the industry as a whole to adhere to European principles.
- Sandra Kelembeth
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