Sovereignty: EU Commission flirts with replacing Microsoft's Azure cloud
The EU Commission is negotiating with OVHcloud from France, among others, to replace its cloud services from Microsoft. It wants to act as a trendsetter.
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The EU Commission is apparently considering moving its cloud services from Microsoft Azure to OVHcloud or another European provider. This was reported by Euractiv magazine, citing high-ranking sources. Corresponding negotiations with OVHcloud, Europe's largest cloud service provider, have been underway for weeks. The potential relocation is being driven by the pursuit of European digital sovereignty in the cloud market.
An additional current trigger is said to be the fact that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, was disconnected from his Microsoft-based email account on the basis of US sanctions. This step is often seen as a wake-up call. According to the report, the Commission's aim is to give European institutions more control over their digital infrastructure and data. This not entirely new idea has also been strongly supported by the EuroStack initiative for several months. According to it, the EU should invest billions in common IT platforms, data spaces, standards and coordinated strategies and adopt a "Europe first" mandate.
A changeover would be a major setback for Microsoft. The tech giant has been trying to reassure its European customers for several months with various, ever-expanding digital assurances and statements. Most recently, the company promised more data controls for the "sovereign" public cloud, a new isolated private computer cloud at the customer's premises and local operation of the MS 365 office package.
OVHcloud confirms the talks
"Discussions are indeed taking place, both with the Commission and with other public and private institutions and organizations that are evaluating projects to migrate to a sovereign cloud," a spokesperson for OVHcloud told Euractiv. According to the Commission, the Brussels-based government institution is constantly monitoring the market and has already concluded an initial contract with OVHcloud. Whether a move away from Microsoft Azure is actually imminent remained open. Several other European cloud providers such as Ionos from Germany, the French company Scaleway and the Italian service provider Aruba are also said to have been considered by the Commission as possible alternatives.
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What is new about the situation is that the two central digital departments of the Commission, – the Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology (Connect) and the Directorate-General for Digital Services (Digit), are for the first time reporting to a single Commission Vice-President, Henna Virkkunen. The Finnish woman is responsible for technological sovereignty. This consolidation is said to have made it easier to harmonize the political and technical priorities of the EU executive body.
In addition, the EU Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech WiewiĂłrowski found in 2024 that the Commission had violated several provisions of the special data protection regulation for the EU institutions by using the cloud-based MS 365. Just a few months ago, the inspector increased the pressure on the government institution to stop all associated data transfers.
(vbr)
