European Governments Prioritize Digital Sovereignty, Shift from US Tech

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European Governments Prioritize Digital Sovereignty, Shift from US Tech

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Governments across Europe are increasingly pursuing “digital sovereignty,” a strategy to reduce reliance on major US technology companies and embrace open-source or homegrown digital solutions. This initiative is driven by concerns over data privacy, security, cost-effectiveness, and geopolitical dependencies.

A prominent example is the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which initiated a large-scale migration of its public administration to open-source software. The state aims to transition approximately 30,000 employees from Microsoft Windows and Office to Linux-based systems and open-source applications like LibreOffice, Open-Xchange, and Thunderbird. This comprehensive shift, which started in 2020, is projected to save the state over €15 million annually in licensing fees, with a one-time investment of €9 million expected to pay for itself in under a year. Dirk Schrödter, Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister for Digitalization, has emphasized that this move is crucial for retaining control over government data and building public-sector digital infrastructure around open standards. The migration of the state’s email system, involving over 40,000 mailboxes and 100 million emails, was completed in October 2025.

Other European nations are following similar paths. France plans for 2.5 million civil servants to switch from US video conferencing tools to a homegrown service by 2027. The European Union itself is taking steps to increase its technological strength with the European Technological Sovereignty Package, unveiled in June 2026. This package includes legislative proposals like Chips Act 2.0 and the Cloud and AI Development Act, aiming to reduce reliance on external suppliers for semiconductors and strengthen local cloud and AI providers. These efforts reflect a broader sentiment among European policymakers to ensure critical infrastructure does not depend on foreign companies that could potentially disrupt access to essential services.

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