The European Commission has officially presented the Cloud and AI Development Act. Its primary aim is to reduce the strategic dependence of European governments and armed forces on American infrastructure. This measure is part of a broader effort to strengthen the Union's technological sovereignty in key security sectors.
Currently, European armed forces rely heavily on infrastructure provided by American technology companies. European militaries use platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud for critical operations. The dependency extends across all levels, from logistics and personnel records to complex systems for intelligence analysis, simulation, and training.
The critical issue is the lack of sufficiently developed European data centres. European militaries have a lag of eight to ten years compared to global standards in the fields of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, European forces have limited access to advanced artificial intelligence accelerators, which further slows the development of independent capabilities.
The dependency is particularly pronounced in aviation. European operators, including the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Poland, operate F-35 fighter aircraft. These aircraft integrate maintenance systems, mission planning, secure communications, and data management provided by the United States. European operators cannot independently manage, maintain, or upgrade F-35 fleets without direct support from the United States.
The broader context of dependency is visible in standardisation. NATO standards, including links such as Link-16, are based on American systems. European programmes, such as those for exchange, rely on American components. European programmes rely on American software for navigation, giving Washington significant influence over the re-export of weapons and technological solutions within the European alliance.
