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The European Commission unveiled a package of legislative proposals on Wednesday aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on U.S. technology companies, including measures that could bar Amazon $AMZN -1.02%, Google $GOOGL -0.06%, and Microsoft $MSFT -2.09% from cloud computing contracts covering sensitive government data.
At the heart of the package sits the Cloud and AI Development Act, which would sort cloud providers into four sovereignty tiers determined by the degree to which their operations — from services and supply chains to data handling and physical facilities — remain within E.U. jurisdiction. Under the act, public authorities would face obligations to keep sensitive information on cloud services owned by E.U. entities and to evaluate the sovereignty risks posed by any provider they use, the Commission said.
European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said it would be difficult for U.S. companies to reach the highest sovereignty tiers because of the U.S. Cloud Act. The U.S. Cloud Act presents a structural obstacle for American companies seeking top-tier sovereignty status, Virkkunen explained, because the law empowers U.S. law enforcement to compel American firms to hand over data stored on any server anywhere in the world, according to CNBC. "We want to make sure that our most critical sensitive data is stored in Europe," Virkkunen said.
