Post Telecom (with CleverCloud and OVHcloud), StackIT, Scaleway, and Proximus (with S3NS, a Thales – Google Cloud joint venture, plus Clarence and Mistral) have secured the European Commission’s six-year sovereign cloud framework contract. The inclusion of Proximus consortium indicates that non-European technology can meet the ‘sovereign’ criteria under the Commission’s framework if governed within stringent guidelines.
The European Commission granted its €180 million sovereign cloud tender to four European provider groups, concluding a procurement process from October 2025. The winning entities include Post Telecom in collaboration with CleverCloud and OVHcloud; StackIT from Schwarz Group; Scaleway from Iliad Group; and Proximus with S3NS, Clarence, and Mistral AI. The parallel awarding of contracts is intentional to ensure diversity and resilience, preventing reliance on a single provider.
Each awardee was evaluated under the Commission’s Cloud Sovereignty Framework, considering strategic, legal, operational, and environmental factors, alongside supply chain transparency, technological openness, security, and EU law compliance. A notable aspect is the Proximus–S3NS consortium, with S3NS as a joint venture where Thales holds a controlling stake while Google Cloud provides the infrastructure. This means an American company ultimately owns technology used in one of the awarded contracts. The Commission asserts that non-European technologies meeting strict governance can satisfy sovereignty needs.
This decision delineates between sovereign ‘operation’ and ‘technology,’ asserting that suitable governance can offset the latter. CISPE had cautioned about such outcomes under the Cloud Sovereignty Framework’s scoring system.
The three other winners are entirely European-owned. Post Telecom, Luxembourg’s state-owned telecom firm, partners with CleverCloud and OVHcloud, delivering expertise to the consortium. OVHcloud also participates in the ECB’s digital euro project. StackIT operates through Schwarz Digits, building cloud infrastructure in Germany. Scaleway, part of Iliad Group, is a prominent European sovereign cloud provider.
This initiative validates the capability of European cloud services and serves as a model for future procurement. The Commission is refining the Cloud Sovereignty Framework for wider application and preparing a Tech Sovereignty package, including CADA, Open Source strategy, Chips Act 2, and Digitalisation Roadmap. CADA aims to unify definitions of ‘sovereign cloud’ across the market amid debates on excluding US hyperscalers or accepting models like Proximus–S3NS.
The context includes significant market dominance by US hyperscalers, while European providers have a smaller share. The US CLOUD Act introduces legal complexities, compelling US firms to disclose data stored by European subsidiaries. The Commission’s framework seeks to navigate this issue, but critics like CISPE argue its sovereignty scoring is insufficiently stringent on legal jurisdiction.