What Does Sovereign Tech Actually Mean For Europe?

Sovereign tech is having a moment in Brussels. But beyond the usual policy platitudes and industry jargon, what does it really mean? And why is Europe suddenly so obsessed with controlling its own digital infrastructure?

Let’s start with the basics. Technological sovereignty is the ability to produce, manage, and maintain your own tech stack without needing to ask permission from Washington or Silicon Valley. Digital sovereignty is slightly broader: it’s about controlling the data, software, and standards that shape your digital life. Add in economic sovereignty and strategic autonomy, and you’re looking at a full-spectrum shift in how Europe wants to position itself in a world dominated by US and Chinese tech giants.

Definitely playing catch-up

The European Commission frames sovereignty as “the power to be able” — a useful reminder that this is less about GDP metrics and more about agency.

Right now, over 80% of Europe’s digital products, infrastructure, and IP are imported from outside the bloc . That includes everything from AI chips to cloud infrastructure. In short, Europe’s digital house is running on borrowed parts.

The sovereign tech agenda is trying to change that. And unlike past tech drives that focused on competitiveness or market share, this one is “values-driven”. The EU wants its digital infrastructure to reflect European ideals: privacy, fairness, sustainability, and transparency. Think GDPR, but baked into everything from cloud services to quantum chips.

This is where things get complicated. Everyone agrees sovereignty is a good idea but no one agrees on what it looks like. The definitions shift between policy documents. Some emphasise data localisation. Others focus on supply chain resilience. Most hedge with vague language like “trustworthy” or “human-centric”. In classic EU fashion, there’s endless white papers, countless committees but not much clarity or meaningful execution.

Still, the strategic logic is clear. Europe doesn’t just want to build its own tools — it wants to make sure those tools are accountable, interoperable and built in ways that won’t backfire the next time there’s a change of admin in the White House. That’s a much tougher nut to crack than just throwing money at AI labs or semiconductor plants.

The Draghi report, among others, calls out the risk of strategic dependency in everything from cloud platforms to quantum computing. And those risks are already playing out. When the UK attempted to force Apple to create a backdoor into its encrypted iCloud services, Apple responded by pulling its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK. That standoff triggered a diplomatic tangle with U.S. officials, who accused the UK of breaching the spirit of the US-UK CLOUD Act agreement. It was a preview of how sovereignty, surveillance and corporate power can collide (messily) and in public. And with the US CLOUD Act still looming (giving American authorities access to data held by US companies anywhere in the world) – the urgency is no longer abstract.

So, what’s the goal? A European tech ecosystem with its own cloud infrastructure (Gaia-X , EuroStack ), AI models (Mistral AI , Aleph Alpha ), secure chip production (SiPearl , Infineon ), and a cybersecurity regime that doesn’t depend on US-made software.

Even Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian has acknowledged Europe’s demands: “European customers and policymakers have told us they need control over all access to their data, inspectability of cloud infrastructure, and survivability of workloads.” Fair but ironic, considering most EU policymakers still rely on US-based cloud tools for day-to-day work. Sovereignty is a strong headline. Implementation? Not so much.

Ambitious? Yes. Late to the game? Definitely. But necessary? If Europe wants any shot at real digital independence, absolutely.

Next: the geopolitical risks of continuing to outsource Europe’s digital backbone—and what’s at stake if the continent keeps handing over its tech infrastructure. Subscribe to get it first.