Tech sovereignty is Europe’s ability to act independently in the digital world by developing and controlling key technologies, data, and infrastructure, while reducing reliance on non-EU providers.
On 3 June 2026, the European Commission adopted an ambitious set of measures to bolster the EU’s digital autonomy.
The tricky part is that “reducing reliance on non-EU providers” is often not visible from the outside.
A tool may be headquartered in the EU but predominantly funded from the US, or hosted in the EU but owned by a US parent company. In such cases, it may still fall within the reach of the US CLOUD Act.
When I reviewed around 180 “European” SaaS alternatives, roughly one in six turned out to be EU-headquartered but mostly US-funded. That means sovereignty needs to be assessed at the ownership and sub-processor level, not only by looking at where the service is hosted.
The tricky part is that “reducing reliance on non-EU providers” is often not visible from the outside.
A tool may be headquartered in the EU but predominantly funded from the US, or hosted in the EU but owned by a US parent company. In such cases, it may still fall within the reach of the US CLOUD Act.
When I reviewed around 180 “European” SaaS alternatives, roughly one in six turned out to be EU-headquartered but mostly US-funded. That means sovereignty needs to be assessed at the ownership and sub-processor level, not only by looking at where the service is hosted.