Digital Sovereignty: Why Europe Must Reclaim Control of Its Critical Infrastructure

The Wake-Up Call: When Global Systems Fail

On October 20, a routine technical failure at Amazon Web Services triggered unprecedented disruption across Europe. From London’s hospitals to Frankfurt’s airports, from Parisian banks to Berlin’s media outlets, essential services ground to a halt. This wasn’t just another cloud outage—it was a stark demonstration of Europe’s dangerous dependency on foreign technology infrastructure. The incident revealed how a single point of failure thousands of miles away could paralyze critical services affecting millions of European citizens.

The Wake-Up Call: When Global Systems Fail
The Strategic Vulnerability Beyond Cloud Computing
The Space Sector: A Cautionary Tale
The Talent Exodus and Investment Imperative
Strategic Autonomy, Not Protectionism
The Path Forward: Building Resilient European Infrastructure

The Strategic Vulnerability Beyond Cloud Computing

The AWS incident represents merely the tip of the iceberg in Europe’s infrastructure dependency crisis. As hostile states increasingly probe Western networks and cyber-threats grow more sophisticated, reliance on overseas providers transforms from a commercial convenience to a strategic liability. The situation becomes particularly alarming when considering that some senior officials believe Europe is already engaged in undeclared conflict with nations like Russia, where future battles would occur at ‘machine speed’—a pace dictated by satellites, sensors, and artificial intelligence., according to industry reports

This dependency extends far beyond cloud services into the very foundations of modern society. As the widespread impact of the AWS outage demonstrated, Europe’s digital economy rests on infrastructure largely outside its control, creating vulnerabilities that extend across:, according to related coverage

Healthcare systems – Patient records and hospital operations
Financial services – Banking transactions and market operations
Transportation – Air traffic control and logistics networks
Government services – Citizen services and defense operations

The Space Sector: A Cautionary Tale

Europe’s emerging space industry provides a compelling case study in infrastructure dependency. Despite rapid growth and innovation across launch capabilities, Earth observation, and communications, much of Europe’s space ecosystem still relies heavily on non-European providers—most notably SpaceX. While the proposed Airbus-Thales-Leonardo merger aims to create a European champion capable of competing globally, the reality is that Europe remains years away from true space infrastructure independence.

The concern isn’t necessarily that providers like SpaceX would deliberately undermine European interests, but rather that the capability to do so exists. In a crisis situation, this dependency could leave Europe struggling to maintain critical space-based services, from navigation to communications to Earth observation—all essential for modern military, economic, and civilian operations., according to additional coverage

The Talent Exodus and Investment Imperative

Europe faces a paradoxical situation: it possesses world-class research institutions and technical talent, yet consistently loses this human capital to the United States and Asia. The primary drivers? Superior funding opportunities and clearer pathways to scaling businesses. European scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs frequently find themselves compelled to leave the continent to access the resources needed to transform innovative ideas into viable enterprises.

This dynamic represents both a challenge and an opportunity. By strategically redirecting investment toward homegrown technology development—supporting labs from Rennes to Rome and startups from Manchester to Munich—Europe can:

Retain its brightest technical minds
Create environments where innovation can scale effectively
Develop sovereign capabilities in critical technology sectors
Build companies capable of competing on the global stage

Strategic Autonomy, Not Protectionism

Building Europe’s critical infrastructure sovereignty isn’t about isolationism or protectionism. Rather, it’s about ensuring that Europe maintains control over the systems essential to its society while remaining globally engaged and dynamic. For over a decade, European leaders have advocated for strategic autonomy—now is the moment to transform this vision into concrete reality.

The objective isn’t complete self-sufficiency in every technology sector, but rather ensuring that Europe maintains sovereign control over infrastructure critical to:

National security and defense
Economic stability
Public safety and health
Democratic governance

The Path Forward: Building Resilient European Infrastructure

Creating truly sovereign European infrastructure requires a multi-faceted approach that balances openness with resilience. This means supporting domestic providers while strengthening pan-European collaboration, ensuring that future infrastructure—particularly in space and digital domains—serves shared public interests rather than purely commercial objectives.

In an increasingly turbulent global landscape, Europe must recognize that technological systems will inevitably experience failures—whether through accident or malicious action. The critical lesson from incidents like the AWS outage is that Europe cannot allow single points of failure in distant locations to jeopardize its essential services. By investing in sovereign capabilities, retaining homegrown talent, and fostering strategic collaboration, Europe can build infrastructure resilient enough to withstand the challenges of an uncertain future., as as previously reported

The task is urgent, but the resources and capabilities exist. What’s needed now is the political will and strategic vision to ensure that Europe’s critical infrastructure remains under European control—not just for economic competitiveness, but for the fundamental security and sovereignty of the continent itself.