European Commission Awards €180 Million Sovereign Cloud Contract to Four EU-Based Providers
April 19, 2026
The European Commission has taken a significant step in its push for digital autonomy, awarding a major six-year, €180 million ($212 million) sovereign cloud services contract to a consortium of four European providers. The move underscores a strategic shift within EU institutions to reduce reliance on non-European technology giants and assert greater control over critical digital infrastructure and data.
Announced on April 17, the contract was awarded to Post Telecom (in partnership with CleverCloud and OVHcloud), StackIT, Scaleway, and Proximus (partnering with S3NS, Clarence, and Mistral). The tender, launched in October 2025, aims to provide sovereign cloud services to EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies. The selection was based on a comprehensive evaluation of eight key objectives, including strategic control, legal and operational sovereignty, environmental impact, supply chain transparency, technological openness, security, and compliance with EU regulations.
The contract is a cornerstone of the Commission's broader efforts to enhance its technological sovereignty. It is concurrently finalizing an updated Cloud Sovereignty Framework with specific criteria for sovereignty assessments, which will be applied to digital services across its departments and other Union entities. The award signals a clear preference for European cloud infrastructure at a time when concerns over foreign data access laws, such as the U.S. CLOUD Act, have intensified discussions about data security in the European public sector.
Industry leaders welcomed the decision as a validation of European technological capability. Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway, emphasized the economic impact, stating, "Today, for every euro spent with Scaleway, around 68 cents are reinvested in the European economy, compared to around 20 cents when relying on international hyperscalers." Octave Klaba, CEO of OVHcloud, noted the award "proves there are robust alternatives in Europe, able to answer the highest standards," while Sébastien Genesca of POST Group highlighted the consortium's goal of "building a sovereign cloud offer that brings the best of our technological expertise, while simultaneously sharing common and European values."
This contract represents a notable pivot away from the dominant U.S. hyperscalers—Google, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft—who have made sovereignty pledges to European clients. By investing in homegrown providers, the EU aims to strengthen local capabilities, retain economic value, and anchor innovation within its borders, setting a potential benchmark for future public sector cloud procurement across the continent.
Source: datacenterdynamics
