MEPs call for public cloud spending to favour European suppliers
A parliamentary draft seeks greater investment in cloud and AI infrastructure, alongside common standards and quicker data centre approvals.
Public authorities should buy more of their cloud services from European suppliers, lawmakers have proposed in a joint draft presented to the European Parliament. The report urges investment and EU-wide rules to reduce reliance on overseas technology providers.
Addressing the European Commission’s proposed Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), the draft seeks to help European technology businesses expand. Dutch green MEP Reinier Van Lanschot argued that customers, rather than subsidies, were what those businesses needed. Spanish conservative MEP Diego Solier said technological sovereignty should enable Europe to act and choose, not shut it off from other countries.
Other recommendations include shared cloud standards and tighter protections for healthcare, transport and energy. Lawmakers also advocate speeding up authorisations for data centres, with environmental requirements upheld and benefits for surrounding communities.
The Commission says more than 70 per cent of Europe’s cloud market is controlled by three hyperscale providers based outside Europe. Its proposal aims for EU data centre capacity to triple within five to seven years.
Parliamentary committees are expected to debate the draft on 1 December. A committee vote has been provisionally pencilled in for mid-March 2027, ahead of a plenary vote in April 2027.
