Europeans push for 'digital sovereignty' amid US tech alignment with Trump

At first glance, the growing queues at a Berlin market stall offering US tech-free phone installs may look like an odd fringe protest. But zoom out, and the message is unmistakable: Europe’s reliance on American digital infrastructure is being reassessed—not just by activists, but by institutions. What appears as grassroots privacy activism is increasingly a reflection of deeper structural risk realignment: the European digital sovereignty shift.

The re-election of Donald Trump—marked by trade hostility, diplomatic detachment, and ideological friction—has accelerated this recalibration. With Washington veering toward protectionism and punitive rhetoric against European digital regulation, the idea of continuing business as usual with Silicon Valley feels riskier. It’s not just about search engines and messaging apps. It’s about the recognition that tech is infrastructure—and that infrastructure dependency is power surrendered.

Google processes more than 10 billion search visits per month from the EU. Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft collectively generate over $100 billion in revenue from the region. These numbers obscure an uncomfortable truth: even when Europeans opt out of Gmail or Chrome, the backend—the cloud servers, content delivery networks, and data routing protocols—remains anchored in the US.

Alternative platforms like Ecosia and ProtonMail are enjoying a surge in interest. Ecosia reported a 27% increase in EU-origin search queries, and ProtonMail’s use in Europe rose nearly 12% year-on-year. But these gains remain symbolic. Ecosia, for example, still runs on servers hosted by the very companies it critiques. This illustrates a structural paradox: digital sovereignty cannot be achieved with superficial switching. The supply chain is still American.

More critically, European regulators now recognize that their ability to shape digital rules is undermined when execution remains outsourced. From data jurisdiction to cloud compliance, Brussels can write the laws—but Mountain View still owns the pipes.

The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) attempt to reassert policy authority over US tech giants. By mandating content moderation protocols and data transparency, they aim to set rules for digital behavior within the bloc. But US retaliation has been swift. Secretary of State Marco Rubio floated visa sanctions on officials “censoring” American voices. Meta has accused the EU of violating free speech. The tension isn’t just regulatory—it’s geopolitical.

Faced with legal asymmetry and economic leverage from US firms, some European governments are moving toward digital autonomy by design. Germany’s coalition agreement commits to open-source software in public IT. Regional administrations like Schleswig-Holstein now mandate non-US systems across state services. Even EU-funded aid to Ukraine has shifted away from SpaceX’s Starlink to France’s Eutelsat satellite network.

These moves are not just ideological—they’re tactical. As US law allows federal access to data even when hosted abroad, the incentive to build independent infrastructure is becoming a national security consideration.

Yet ambition confronts reality. Ecosia and Qwant rely partially on search results from Microsoft Bing. Most EU-based digital tools depend on US-hosted cloud platforms for speed and reliability. The cost of building local replacements—from data centers to AI training stacks—is significant, and few European firms can match the scale, agility, or talent pools available in California.

This is why the current shift feels more like a risk hedge than a clean break. It mirrors the EU’s approach to energy diversification post-Russia: reduce exposure where possible, build redundancy where needed, and regulate dependency where decoupling is too costly.

From a macroeconomic perspective, this posture is best described as a capital posture rebalancing. It’s not about rejecting US tech. It’s about limiting overreliance on systems increasingly shaped by unpredictable policy, opaque ownership structures, and divergent values.

Digital sovereignty is no longer just a slogan—it’s emerging as a serious policy imperative in Europe. But unlike prior waves of tech nationalism, this one is less about innovation and more about insulation. The primary concern isn’t building better platforms. It’s about minimizing the regulatory and security risks that come with depending on foreign-controlled infrastructure.

Strategically, this means Europe will continue to push forward with cloud neutrality, data localization, and public sector tech independence. Consumers may lead with conscience, but institutions are now following with capital. The shift may be gradual, uneven, and at times performative—but its trajectory is set. The sovereignty agenda isn’t about breaking free. It’s about having a choice. And for Europe, that’s no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.