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In this analysis
Europe's latest technology proposals are often described as industrial policy. Their deeper logic is political. If hospitals, banks, energy grids or defence systems depend on infrastructure controlled by companies subject to another government's law, then technological dependence can become a constraint on state action.
Control is the policy objective
The European Commission proposed a Cloud and AI Development Act and a second Chips Act aimed at expanding domestic capacity and imposing sovereignty requirements in sensitive sectors. EU officials explicitly raised the risk that foreign authorities or companies could disrupt services or access data.
That reframes procurement. Price and performance remain important, but governments increasingly treat legal jurisdiction, data control and the ability to continue operating during a political dispute as security characteristics.
Sovereignty has a price
US providers dominate much of the cloud market and have responded with European structures designed to address local control concerns. European alternatives can cost more or offer less scale. A sovereignty requirement therefore transfers some cost from geopolitical risk into today's procurement budget.
The political question is how much insurance Europe is willing to buy against a low-frequency but potentially severe loss of technological autonomy.
The law will decide which dependencies count
The proposals still require negotiation with member states and the European Parliament. The most consequential details will define sensitive sectors, qualifying European control and the conditions attached to public contracts. Those definitions will determine whether sovereignty becomes a meaningful change in infrastructure ownership or mostly a compliance category.