Digital Sovereignty: Why We Must Expose the "Trojan Horse" of Convenience

An ordinary Monday in October 2025. A configuration error occurs at AWS in Northern Virginia. Within minutes, everything grinds to a halt: financial transactions freeze, communication apps fall silent, and government portals go offline.

A single error on another continent can effectively paralyze European infrastructure. This scenario is no dystopia—it is entirely realistic, and it painfully demonstrates that our digital architecture rests on a foundation we do not control.

Under these circumstances, one thing becomes clear: for Europe, digital sovereignty is a matter of survival.

The paradox of convenience

For a long time, the formula was simple: US cloud solutions offered scalability and innovation at unbeatable prices. But this convenience comes at a cost. Today, a dangerous structural dependency is threatening our technological edge.

We are facing a massive imbalance. On the one hand, just three major foreign players dominate around 70% of the European cloud market. In contrast, the entire European industry combined holds a market share of only 15%. Even heavyweights like SAP or Deutsche Telekom hold only about 2%. As a result, European innovations are being built in an ecosystem where we don’t set the rules. Like the Trojans, we welcomed the gift of cloud innovation without scrutinizing the long-term consequences.

The true risk, however, is not dependency itself, but "lock-in." While 80% of CIOs fear this state, less than half have concrete strategies to counter it. This lock-in manifests across several levels:

• Economic barriers: Switching often becomes prohibitively expensive. What looks like a bargain entry price today often ends up costing a fortune later, once you factor in the massive migration fees and licensing pitfalls.

• Technical shackles: The use of proprietary interfaces slows down innovation and restricts data portability.

• Regulatory risks: If European compliance rules (such as the GDPR or the AI Act) are not integrated into the design from the start, companies face fines of up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover.

Of course, we do not need total autarky. It would be naive to believe we could or should rebuild everything in Europe from scratch. But we must develop "Smart Autonomy." This means knowing exactly where control is indispensable.

The three pillars of sovereignty

True sovereignty is decided at the governance level. It rests on three specific pillars that dictate whether a company can be proactive or is merely forced to react.

Critical infrastructure: who owns the "off switch"?

First, let's look at the physical and virtual foundation. This is where the question of resilience arises: What happens if the cord is cut? We need to build redundancies that extend beyond a single provider's data center.

If critical services, such as identity management or central databases, run exclusively in a proprietary cloud, a company becomes paralyzed during an outage. Strategies like multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud approaches ensure the necessary business continuity.

Data sovereignty: protecting the most valuable asset

Data is the brain of the modern enterprise. But who has access to it? All too often, the interests of global platforms stand at odds with European values.

We must ensure that our data flows remain technically controllable. It is crucial where data is stored and who – across national borders – is permitted to access it (Keyword: US Cloud Act vs. GDPR). Only those who maintain data sovereignty can use this data exclusively for their own AI models.

Software logic: code as a "sovereignty asset"

This is the greatest lever, and one we often underestimate in Europe: custom software. When we develop our own software logic, we create a "sovereignty asset." This frees us from the roadmaps of global providers and gives us the chance to integrate European standards right into the DNA of our software architecture.

Whoever owns the code, owns the rules. Through custom software development, we secure our future viability.

Europe holds the winning cards

We tend to talk down our digital position. Yet, we have a foundation that others envy.

Our continent is home to six million developers. That is a massive powerhouse for innovation, backed by a world-leading regulatory framework—from the Data Act and NIS2 to the AI Act. It is crucial not to view these laws as hurdles to innovation. Instead, they ensure that technology operates according to our values. In short, we already have all the necessary tools for "Sovereignty by Design."

At the same time, we must consistently commit to open standards and transparent technologies. Only then can we create a foundation that remains truly portable and secures the flexibility we need.

The decisive difference, however, lies in implementation. Sovereignty isn't born in the ivory towers of politics or through subsidy programs alone. It is decided where the operational business is shaped:

• Procurement: This is where the choice is made: Do we buy into a short-term, low-cost dependency, or do we invest in long-term flexibility? Procurement is the front line of sovereignty.

• Legal: Legal frameworks must ensure that we don’t just license software, but maintain full control over our data flows.

• C-Level & Management: Only when leadership understands that digital autonomy is a strategic asset will the necessary resources for sovereign solutions be unlocked.

In architectural planning, we must stop accepting "black boxes." We should make transparency a prerequisite and build systems that ensure we remain operational in an emergency. But how do we actually measure this capacity to act in concrete terms?

From maturity to resilience

The path to technological freedom begins with an honest assessment. Many organizations invest millions in security, yet remain unaware of their actual lock-in risk. Only once you understand your individual "Sovereignty Maturity Level" can you direct investments strategically, rather than simply reacting to the next crisis.

In practice, this means taking a sober look at four critical areas:

• Depth of dependency: It is not enough to simply know the names of your cloud providers. What matters is evaluating how tightly your business continuity is tied to a provider's specific, proprietary features. The deeper this integration, the higher the hurdles when you actually need to migrate.

• Architecture without dead ends: Resilience is the result of modular systems. You should critically examine whether you can truly move your applications if needed, or if you have built yourself into a technical corner. Genuine portability is the life insurance policy for your data.

• Contracts as room for maneuver: You must ensure that contracts do not just license you software, but guarantee you full control over your data flows and a fair exit strategy.

• Governance and compliance: Analyze how seamlessly European standards are woven into your software. For you, sovereignty means not "tacking on" rules as a burdensome extra after the fact. Instead, ensure they are built directly into the code from the start.

Ultimately, this analysis makes sovereignty real and measurable. It provides the foundation for decisions that are no longer driven by the roadmaps of external vendors, but by your own strategic objectives.

Conclusion

We don't have to reinvent the wheel, and we should leverage global technological progress—but we must do so with greater independence. Digital sovereignty means being strong enough to cooperate on equal footing. Furthermore, we must stop viewing it as a burden or a regulatory hurdle. It is an opportunity for innovation "Made in Europe."

Let us replace the Trojan Horse of dependency with an architecture of resilience. We have all the necessary tools and talent for that.