European governments are accelerating plans to ditch U.S. tech providers and build their own digital infrastructure, marking a historic shift in transatlantic tech relations. The pivot comes as Trump administration sanctions against International Criminal Court judges reveal how dependent Europe has become on American technology - and how vulnerable that makes them. France just announced it's replacing Microsoft Teams and Zoom with homegrown software, while Belgium's cybersecurity chief admits Europe has "lost the internet" to the U.S.
The breaking point came when Trump sanctioned a Canadian judge. Kimberly Prost, who serves on the International Criminal Court, suddenly found herself locked out of modern life - no credit cards, no Amazon account, no access to U.S. tech services. She described the effect as "paralyzing" in an interview with The Irish Times. Her crime? Serving on an appeals chamber that authorized ICC investigations into alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan.
That chilling example is forcing European leaders to confront an uncomfortable truth: they've outsourced their digital infrastructure to a country that's become increasingly unpredictable and vindictive. Now they're scrambling to take it back.
France fired the first major salvo this week. The government announced Tuesday it would replace Zoom and Microsoft Teams across its operations with Visio, a domestically developed video conferencing platform. French civil service minister David Amiel framed the move as essential to national security, not just preference.
It's not just talk. The European Parliament voted January 22 to direct the European Commission to identify areas where the EU can reduce dependence on foreign providers. The vote revealed a startling statistic: the EU and its 27 member states rely on non-EU countries for more than 80% of digital products, services, and infrastructure. While the vote was non-binding, it signals where the political winds are blowing as the moves to bring critical technologies onto European soil.
