By Foo Yun Chee and Toby Sterling
BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM, June 1 (Reuters) – Europe plans to propose strict criteria for cloud computing services in highly critical state tenders that could exclude Amazon, Microsoft and Google from such projects, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The proposal is part of the European Commission’s Cloud and AI Development Act, which EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen will announce on Wednesday as part of a package of measures aimed at reducing Europe’s dependence on U.S. tech and promoting European businesses.
The drive for sovereignty requirements in sensitive sectors such as banking, energy, healthcare and comes amid fears of surveillance by the United States and that it may get unlawful access to Europeans’ data on the basis of its laws such as the Cloud Act which requires U.S.-based providers to grant authorities access to data even if it is stored abroad.
The EU proposal, previously unreported and that could face late changes, also introduces mandatory non-price award criteria, including requirements for software and hardware developed within the EU, that would disadvantage U.S. big tech.
The European Commission declined to comment on details of its plans though said that its tech sovereignty package was “crucial for strengthening Europe’s own technological capacities, for Europe’s competitiveness and security.”
The EU executive’s plan, which needs backing from EU countries and the European Parliament in the coming months, could draw backlash from the U.S. government which is already extremely critical of other EU laws aimed at reining in Big Tech and ensuring that they police their platforms for illegal and harmful content.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Louise Heavens)
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