Europe

Over the past decade, Europe has ceded leadership in innovation to the U.S. and China. Now, the U.S. must learn from the EU’s missteps to ensure that it maintains technological preeminence in the coming decades.

In its push for digital sovereignty, the European Commission is reportedly planning to replace Microsoft Azure with the French cloud provider OVHcloud or another European alternative. But this move, while politically symbolic, would be costly. Far from enhancing security, this migration would sacrifice sound procurement and EU legal obligations in service of a hollow vision of digital nationalism.

The EU’s Digital Markets Act was sold as a blueprint for fairness and innovation. But instead of fostering competition, the DMA risks turning Europe into a regulatory island—more isolated, less competitive, and increasingly irrelevant on the world stage.

Schleswig-Holstein’s move to drop Microsoft for open-source tools reflects costly digital protectionism driven by politics, not practicality. EU governments should focus on evidence-based tech procurement over nationalist agendas.

France may label certain social media platforms as porn sites to enforce age checks, a move that misrepresents platform use and raises privacy, free speech, and regulatory concerns.

It is critical that, in tackling both these issues, the EU avoids engaging in digital protectionism, which would harm European competitiveness further.

The Center welcomes the European Commission’s ambition to accelerate the uptake of AI across the economy and public sector as part of its broader AI continent action plan.

Germany’s new coalition government has created a central digital ministry to finally accelerate its slow-moving AI agenda, aiming to modernize public services and support AI innovation. But success hinges on whether it prioritizes practical reform over symbolic sovereignty, especially amid EU regulations and global competition.

Lilla Nóra Kiss speaks on the Digital Markets Act at the TalTech Legal Lab Annual Research Forum.

Lilla Nóra Kiss speaks on the legal and economic ramifications of the Digital Markets Act at the Università del Salento.