EU Funds Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure with €180 Million Contract

The European Commission has awarded a €180 million contract to four cloud providers—Post Telecom, STACKIT, Scaleway, and Proximus—to deliver sovereign cloud services to EU institutions, bodies, and agencies over a six-year period. The providers were selected based on their compliance with the EU’s Cloud Sovereignty Framework, which sets eight objectives covering security, compliance, supply chain transparency, technological transparency, environmental standards, EU law, EU strategy, and EU operations. This initiative aims to ensure the EU maintains strategic control over its digital technologies, reducing reliance on non-European infrastructure. The EC awarded the contracts simultaneously to ensure diversification and resilience, requiring providers to demonstrate that third parties outside the EU have limited control over the technologies used. For example, Post Telecom partnered with OVHcloud and Clever Cloud, while Proximus collaborated with S3NS, Mistral AI, Clarence, and Thales. Notably, S3NS is a joint venture between Thales and Google Cloud, indicating that the EU’s definition of sovereignty is pragmatic, prioritizing location and regulatory compliance over complete independence from US tech. This move comes amid warnings from the Future of Technology Institute that European dependence on US firms for national security poses a risk of a 'kill switch' during political disputes. The EC’s framework is seen as a step toward building a resilient European cloud ecosystem, with private initiatives like Cubbit, SUSE, Elemento Cloud, and StorPool Storage also offering disaster recovery packs for scenarios where suppliers deny access.