A draft European Parliament report on the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) backs common EU rules for cloud and AI infrastructure, more investment in European technology firms, and less reliance on suppliers outside Europe.

The lawmakers cast digital independence as an economic and strategic priority, arguing that dependence on outside technology could limit Europe’s ability to control essential services and make its own decisions.

The European Commission says three non-European hyperscale cloud providers control more than 70% of Europe’s cloud market, prompting concerns about data sovereignty, security and operational autonomy.

To help buyers assess those risks, MEPs propose shared EU criteria and accredited auditors to evaluate how securely and independently cloud providers manage data.

The draft also urges public authorities to favor qualifying EU cloud providers in procurement and would extend safeguards to privately operated essential services, including hospitals, airports and energy providers.

Introduced by the European Commission in June, CADA aims to expand data-centre capacity, support research and innovation, and help European technology companies compete internationally.

The Commission’s target is to triple EU data-centre capacity within five to seven years, and lawmakers seek faster approvals while retaining environmental requirements and ensuring host communities benefit.

The draft would channel projects into designated development zones while requiring consultation with residents; possible local benefits include using waste heat to warm schools or support infrastructure.

The expansion could strain electricity, land and cooling resources, making local consultation and measures such as waste-heat use important to addressing environmental concerns.

Critics question whether building more data centres will curb the dominance of Google, Microsoft and Amazon, arguing that their scale, infrastructure, customer bases, access to capital and high switching costs may preserve their influence.

SOMO says Google, Microsoft and Amazon held 41 meetings with the European Commission between the start of its 2024 mandate and CADA’s announcement.

Ireland is drafting changes to CADA while steering the Council’s position through the end of 2026; the article says its proposed revisions weaken autonomy safeguards and lower the bar for US hyperscalers to obtain higher sovereign-cloud assurances.