Sovereignty Washing (www.article19.org)

On June 3, the European Commission unveiled its Tech Sovereignty Package (TSP), comprising legislative proposals like the Chips Act 2.0 and the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), alongside an Open Source Strategy and a roadmap for AI in energy. The CADA introduces a risk assessment framework aimed at reducing the EU's reliance on non-European cloud services while promoting open-source technology in public procurement. This moves to address the growing concentration of power among Big Tech companies, which has raised human rights concerns. However, critics, including ARTICLE 19, note that the package could inadvertently support deregulation under the guise of sovereignty, undermining established rights protections in the EU. Significantly, the tiered "sovereignty assurance" levels of the CADA may allow continued participation of non-EU providers in most public sector cloud usage, raising concerns that the framework is designed to maintain the status quo with major U.S. companies rather than genuinely diminishing their influence. Furthermore, the TSP's strategy of expanding European data center capacity without addressing existing market concentration may lead to further entrenchment of incumbents rather than fostering competition. To ensure meaningful change, it is crucial for the Commission to align the TSP with human rights protections and leverage existing regulations like the Digital Markets Act, as the current trajectory risks simply solidifying the power of dominant tech players rather than creating a genuinely sovereign digital ecosystem in Europe.