Europe is accelerating a shift away from U.S.-based tech providers for critical data infrastructure, with Germany and Denmark moving toward local or open-source solutions to bolster sovereignty.

This move centers on data ownership and sovereignty, aiming to shield European data from potential access by non-European authorities under laws like the Cloud Act.

Germany and Denmark are leading by example, as Schleswig-Holstein transfers 30,000 government workstations from Microsoft and Denmark adopts LibreOffice, signaling a regional trend toward sovereignty.

France is planning for Scaleway to secure health records for tens of millions of citizens, with the platform expected to be operational between late 2026 and early 2027.

Scaleway was chosen after evaluating more than 350 technical criteria and will host the nation’s health data, reinforcing a shift to sovereign cloud providers.

France selected Scaleway, a subsidiary of Iliad, to host the Health Data Hub, replacing Microsoft Azure to strengthen data sovereignty for health data used in research.

The Health Data Hub, which includes a copy of the SNDS, is being migrated from Microsoft to Scaleway amid concerns about U.S. data access under American law.

Hosting health data in France will require HDS certification, GDPR compliance, and ongoing CNIL oversight, underscoring the need for a trusted European-controlled infrastructure.

Keypoints

The debate over foreign access to European data intensified after a 2023-2024 French Senate inquiry, where Microsoft acknowledged potential access by U.S. authorities even if data is stored in France.

France’s 2019 Azure award faced criticism over non-competitive tendering and concerns about U.S. extraterritorial reach; subsequent SecNumCloud rules and a 2024 law push sensitive data to sovereign infrastructure.

In testimony, Microsoft conceded it could not block a U.S. injunction targeting French citizens’ data, highlighting the legal risks that spurred the Scaleway move.