Context: Microsoft’s very first version of Microsoft Word, released 42 years ago, included multiple European languages (French and German first). At the time, this marked the company’s first big step in Europe. The company’s economic reliance on Europe has “always run deep” and the continent has been a “lynchpin of our success”, Microsoft said in a blog post today. However, earlier this month, Benjamin Revcolevschi, CEO of leading European data centre provider OVHCloud, said in a quarterly earnings statement that global trade tensions – especially those concerning the U.S. – were making European companies rethink their choice of cloud provider: “In the current geopolitical context, we are seeing a shift in the concerns of private companies and public organisations in Europe. Questions of strategic autonomy are now on CEOs’ agendas. The choice of a cloud provider is no longer just a technical matter, but also a strategic issue” (April 17, 2025 OVHCloud press release).
What’s new: Microsoft has announced five digital commitments to Europe, including the expansion of its cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe and a promise to uphold Europe’s digital resilience “regardless of geopolitical and trade volatility” (April 30, 2025 blog post). Notably, the company said that it has a history of pursuing litigation when that has been needed (including four lawsuits against the U.S. Executive Branch during President Obama’s tenure and during President Trump’s first term), and when necessary, Microsoft is “prepared to go to court”. The company also noted the importance of ensuring open access to its AI and cloud platform across Europe, so it will be enhancing its AI Access Principles in the coming months.
Direct impact: Microsoft’s warning about litigation suggests that the company will fight for its European customers in U.S. courts if it feels the need to. However, its blog post underlines that it “believes in trans-Atlantic ties that promote mutual economic growth and prosperity”, noting that it hopes talks can resolve tariff issues and reduce non-tariff barriers, consistent with the recommendations in the recent Draghi report. While it is prepared to take action, the company has not said it needs to take action just yet and will be focused on strengthening cybersecurity on both sides of the Atlantic in alternative ways.
Wider ramifications: Some voices in the tech community have already started reacting to Microsoft’s new commitments. Some have criticized them, noting that they will not be enough to reach a “sovereign Europe”. Those individuals tend to prefer a government-funded European Digital Public Infrastructure. Meanwhile, others have said Microsoft deserves some credit, given its past of standing up to U.S. authorities.
Here is a summary of the five commitments:
Help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe
- Microsoft will increase its European data center capacity by 40% over the next two years, expanding its operations in 16 European countries and more than doubling its capacity between 2023 and 2027. This will result in cloud operations in more than 200 data centers across the continent.
- Microsoft has partnered with French telecommunications carriers Capgemini and Orange, who formed a joint venture named Bleu. Designed as a “cloud de confiance” (trusted cloud) platform, Bleu offers a broad range of Microsoft Azure cloud services and Microsoft 365 productivity tools operated under French control.
- In Germany, a similar sovereign cloud initiative is underway through a partnership between Microsoft, SAP, and Arvato Systems (a Bertelsmann IT subsidiary). This effort, through SAP’s subsidiary, Delos Cloud GmbH, is creating a sovereign cloud platform for the German public sector, hosted in German data centers and operated by German personnel.
- The recent geopolitical volatility may mean some governments will consider public financing to support European home-grown offerings (this will be discussed in the last section of this article). But the company said it is committed to collaborating with European participants across the tech ecosystem.
- The company also re-stated its commitment to European competition law and the Digital Markets Act. “We’re committed to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating our products and services,” it said.
Uphold Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility
- Moving forward, Microsoft’s European data center operations and their boards will be overseen by a European board of directors that consists exclusively of European nationals and operates under European law.
- The company will be including a new European Digital Resilience Commitment in all of its contracts with European national governments and the European Commission.
- Microsoft has a “demonstrated history” of pursuing litigation when that has been needed to protect the rights of its customers and other stakeholders, including four lawsuits filed against the U.S. Executive Branch during President Obama’s tenure, including to protect the privacy of our customers’ data in the United States and Europe. Microsoft also bagged a successful decision before the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the rights of employees who are immigrants during President Trump’s first term. “When necessary, we’re prepared to go to court,” it warned.
- It will designate and rely upon European partners with contingency arrangements for operational continuity in the unlikely event that the company were ever required by a court to suspend services. This is already being done in France and Germany for the Bleu and Delos data centres.
Continue to protect the privacy of European data:
- In January 2024, Microsoft launched the EU data boundary project, which allows European commercial and public sector customers to store and process their data and personal identifiers for Microsoft core cloud services—including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure services—within the EU and EFTA regions. This was extended three months ago to include professional services data from technical support interactions.
- The company allows customers to create a “lockbox” around their data across Azure, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365 by giving them the ability to review and approve before Microsoft accesses their data for customer and service support operations.
- As mentioned above, Microsoft will go to court when it needs to protect European data from unauthorized access. It noted that in 2018, following a suit Microsoft brought on behalf of European customers, Congress enacted legislation that guarantees the company’s right to object to U.S. law enforcement demands to access European data that conflict with EU law.
Always help protect and defend Europe’s cybersecurity
- Several cybersecurity attacks have occurred since the start of the war in Ukraine three years ago. In response to those, Microsoft has appointed a new Deputy Information Security Officer, who will be tasked with ensuring Microsoft is compliant with current and emerging cybersecurity regulations in Europe. The company has also stated it will continue to help ensure the Cyber Resilience Act is implemented, following its enactment in December 2024.
Help strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness, including for open source
- The company last year announced a set of AI Access Principles (February 6, 2024 Microsoft blog post), which it plans to enhance in the coming months.
- This open access has allowed for the launch of several technology start-ups, including Factorial in Spain to build AI-driven automation for HR professionals, iGenius in Italy to develop AI solutions for regulated industries, and Visma in Norway to provide AI solutions for companies in accounting, payroll, invoicing, and beyond. It also helped the Institut Curie in France research new therapies for cancer, UBS in Switzerland develop new banking solutions, and Heineken in the Netherlands boost employee productivity.
“Actions instead of words”
On LinkedIn, several voices have already started reacting, such as software provider AUTHADA’s founder Jörg Jessen, who wrote that Microsoft’s commitments “won’t be enough, politically certainly not for a sovereign Europe”.
Many individuals in Europe, including the companies that signed the so-called EuroStack initiative (March 14, 2024 open letter), strongly believe a government-funded European Digital Public Infrastructure is the right way forward. These include Airbus, IONOS, and NextCloud, among many others.
Prof. Thomas R. Koehler, CEO of IT service management company CE21, was also particularly sceptical about the commitments. “The arm of the US judiciary reaches far and wide, and informing customers of official orders should not always be possible due to the legal situation. Personally, I would like to see a “canary in a coal mine” [(an early warning of danger or failure)] as a signal giver,” he wrote.
This move is “not really surprising”, Christoph Salzig, CEO of PR firm Primus Inter Pares, said, noting that, in the market, more and more voices either lean towards European technologies or expect a substantial step forward by the tech giants. He added:
“There has been a lack of a real will to oppose access by authorities in the past. And where the journey is going can be seen in the interventions at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. And Google no longer considers its own sandbox to be really necessary. Actions instead of words.”
To which, Peter Marwan, editor at German publication ChannelPartner.de responded:
“You have to give Microsoft credit for having a certain tradition of defending itself against US authorities. I can still remember the years of disputes over the search warrant of the US Department of Justice in the Microsoft data center in Ireland about 10 years ago. Microsoft (certainly also in the interest of its own business – but still…) was quite unyielding and persevering.”
Ansgar Baums, a senior advisor at Sinolytics, agreed that the commitments are a positive step forward. “Europe should see U.S. corporations as allies – because at least those that rely on internationally open markets are closer to Europe’s political positions than ever before,” he wrote.