The European Commission has decided that Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services will be subject to strict rules aimed at enhancing competition in the cloud services market. This move may provoke discontent in Washington as Brussels advances its agenda for Europe’s technological sovereignty.
On Thursday, the European Commission announced that the cloud services of Microsoft and Amazon should operate under a stringent regulatory framework, at least during the initial phase. Brussels seeks to create a fair and competitive cloud services market while supporting European providers. This decision means that Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services—the two largest cloud service providers, which together account for approximately 60% of the European market—must adhere to the obligations and prohibitions outlined in the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to eliminate anti-competitive practices by dominant companies.
Notably, the third major player in the sector, Google Cloud, was not deemed by the Commission to have a sufficient level of market dominance to fall under the DMA rules. We are concerned that ignoring the growing power of Google Cloud and Gemini could negatively impact the market, a Microsoft representative told Euronews.
Transatlantic Tensions
The EU‘s regulations are designed to prevent technology giants from locking customers into their services, making it excessively costly or technically impossible to switch to a competitor. This initiative could incite anger in Washington, as the Trump administration actively defended American companies, believing they were being treated unfairly in Europe due to their success.
Digital Dialogue Between the EU and the US
However, Brussels maintains that this step is not about transatlantic competition. It is not about European players versus American ones, said Ricardo Cardoso, the Commission’s spokesman for competition policy, at a press conference following the announcement. The Commission and the US government are establishing a digital dialogue, which Brussels views as a platform to explain its regulatory decisions and mitigate public criticism from across the Atlantic. Critics, however, argue that this format instead provides Washington a privileged platform to lobby against EU rules. The first meeting within this dialogue has yet to take place.
The decision comes just weeks after the Commission unveiled plans to reduce dependence on foreign technology providers in favor of domestic alternatives, with cloud services being one of the most affected sectors. Thus, the effort to make the cloud services market, currently dominated by the US, more competitive aligns with Brussels’ push for regulations that would reserve some of the bloc’s most sensitive government contracts for European providers. It remains uncertain whether these combined measures will effectively reduce Europe’s reliance on foreign technologies and to what extent they will heighten transatlantic tensions.
Source: Euronews