CIRCLE WITH A DOT

Turns out that one of the four EU cloud winners S3NS is a joint venture between Thales and Google Cloud.
The European cloud industry association calls it "sovereignty washing at the highest levels."
A framework built to keep US hyperscalers out awarded a contract to an entity running on Google Cloud tech. SEAL-2, not SEAL-3. The lowest passing grade.
The framework works. The political will to enforce it fully doesn't.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/20/europe_picks_4_sovereign_cloud/

#DataSovereignty #SovereignCloud #EU #Privacy #CLOUDACT

@JostMaurin Bemerkenswert, mit welcher Leichtigkeit hier über die Reisefreiheit anderer geurteilt wird. Wer entscheidet, welcher Flug "unnötig" ist? Die Hochzeit im Ausland, der Besuch kranker Angehöriger?
Auffallend auch, was im Appell fehlt: die rund 800.000 Jobs der deutschen Luftverkehrswirtschaft, Bodenpersonal, Zulieferer. Der Ruf nach Verzicht ist schnell formuliert, die Folgefrage, wer die Rechnung zahlt, seltener.
Bei echter Knappheit regelt ohnehin der Preis die Nachfrage. Ganz ohne moralische Bewertung privater Entscheidungen.

@ReggieHere you're right to call out the timeline. The CLOUD Act is from 2018. The EU flagged the conflict with GDPR immediately — then did nothing for 8 years!

The EU Commission just created something that didn't exist before: a way to actually measure digital sovereignty.
Their new SEAL framework rates cloud providers 0–4. No US hyperscaler won a lead contract. €180M goes to OVHCloud, STACKIT, Scaleway, Proximus.
The quiet part: SEAL-2 minimum means your provider can't be compelled by foreign law to hand over your data. Most winners hit SEAL-3 — immune to non-EU supply chain disruption.
This is procurement policy, not rhetoric. It will cascade.
https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/commission-advances-cloud-sovereignty-through-strategic-procurement-2026-04-17_en
#DataSovereignty #SovereignCloud #EU #Privacy #FOSS