Overview
- The European Commission unveiled the package on Wednesday, proposing a Cloud and AI Development Act, a Chips Act 2.0 and new procurement rules to steer sensitive public tenders toward EU providers.
- Draft procurement rules set mandatory non-price criteria that require EU‑developed software or hardware for high‑risk contracts and could effectively bar Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud from some state projects.
- The proposals would fast‑track approvals for data centres, offer preferential grid and network treatment for projects using European chips, and give the Commission a role as a central purchaser for member states.
- A coalition of 13 European cloud firms, MEPs and NGOs publicly backed the push, but industry experts warn the plan’s goal to triple data‑centre capacity in five to seven years may run into power, planning, supply‑chain and skills limits.
- The measures must still be approved by EU member states and the European Parliament and they raise the prospect of U.S. pushback because of concerns over extraterritorial data access under the U.S. CLOUD Act.