Do you have a Microsoft or Google email account? A US company also most likely owns your operating system. These companies are able to monitor everything you do, at least in theory.
Do you save your files using a service provided by a US business? An increasing share of company information systems operate on Amazon or Microsoft computers. Also, the American AI tool ChatGPT runs in a US-owned data centre.
In your spare time, you probably follow social media channels owned by US or Chinese companies and watch TV shows through American streaming services.
As you can see, all our activity is dependent on cloud services — especially US ones. They enable functions and services that are indispensable for easy everyday living and business activities. On the other hand, one-sided dependency on US cloud services may constitute a risk for individual service users, the Finnish state, and all of Europe.
Europe fallen behind in development
When a service is in the cloud, it means that the service is located on a computer owned by someone else, most often on a server of a large cloud service provider.
US companies dominate the cloud service industry. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google control over 70 per cent of global markets, because they have been able to develop a nearly perfectly functioning, comprehensive selection of services for the development and operation of applications. Customers do not need to invest in anything but the functionality of their applications.
European companies have been nearly entirely sidelined in the development of cloud services. None of the top ten cloud service providers are European, which makes the situation difficult. One European contender can be found in the top 15 — with a market share of roughly one percent.
On their own, European companies cannot offer comprehensive suites of cloud services comparable to American ones. Developing them would require enormous investments and a Europe-wide solution.
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What will American cloud service dominance lead to?
Users of cloud services pay rent — that is, a monthly subscription fee — that could easily skyrocket. For example, the Finnish public sector alone paid nearly 1.2 billion euros for user rights to Microsoft software in 2024.
Financial interdependence has long been considered a guarantee for keeping the peace. Unfortunately, recent evidence shows that assumption to be false. Dependency on cloud services is also nearly unilateral: we are completely dependent on US companies, which is an issue if crises or conflicts occur. Moreover, entrusting confidential information to such systems is questionable.
What should Europe do?
Europe should strengthen its digital sovereignty, but the continent has awoken to the fact rather slowly and reluctantly. The problem is mentioned in public EU documents, but concrete actions have been minimal considering the scope and urgency of the issue.
For example, the Netherlands have passed bills this spring restricting the use of US services. Furthermore, researchers and professors have proposed building European cloud architectures in order to boost public undertakings and innovations. All that said, the problem cannot be solved in one fell swoop.
Digitalisation plays an increasingly commanding role in our lives. Controlling it is a key aspect of our sovereignty. Future European cloud service solutions require a great deal of work from researchers, product developers, and politicians. Tides turn slowly, and we have no idea what the future will hold. One thing is certain, however: there is a great deal of work ahead unless Europe wants to relinquish all control to the US.
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