OVHcloud chief talks up sovereignty discussions with the European Commission

... And then promptly deletes comment. Optimism or an opportunity? Or perhaps both

French cloud business, OVHcloud, claimed yesterday that it is in discussions with the European Commission (EC) regarding a possible migration to a sovereign cloud – in an X post that has since been deleted.

The post, which now leads to a message stating "that the page does not exist" from the company's chairman, Octave Klaba, stated OVHcloud was working with the EC to investigate shifting workloads from Microsoft Azure.

Klaba's comment came in response to reporting from Euractiv that claims the Commission was considering ditching Microsoft's Azure in favor of French org OVHcloud because of "digital sovereignty fears."

An onlooker might suggest someone close to the matter had a short sharp word with Klaba.

When we asked the EC for comment. Spokesperson for Tech Sovereignty, Defence, Space, Research and Innovation, Thomas Regnier, was a little more reserved and noted that the organization has "put in place a flexible procurement process for cloud services which is open to cloud providers of different sizes, where 10 cloud providers are registered, including several European ones.

"We are also constantly scanning the market in our role as a cloud broker to ensure innovation."

Regnier added, "The Commission already has a contract with OVHcloud giving access to OVHcloud as European provider for cloud services."

Microsoft has become increasingly sensitive to European worries over sovereignty in recent years, and the growing mistrust of US-based businesses seen over the last few months. This week, the company pitched Microsoft 365 Local as a way of running its software in customers' environments. Earlier in 2025, Microsoft made several European digital commitments, including a promise to protect the privacy of European data, and in June, it also announced a European Security Program.

The Windows behemoth isn't alone. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is also establishing a new organization in the region "backed by strong technical controls, sovereign assurances, and legal protections." And Google is addressing data sovereignty too.

However, there remains concern regarding the power of the US hyperscalers, particularly in light of the unpredictability of the US administration. CEO of Cloudbees, Anuj Kapur, told The Register that he'd noted a change in the thinking of European customers as geopolitical realities change. "US foreign policy," he said, "is more a factor in their decision-making than it has been."

There are worries on the continent about the dominance of US companies, and several organizations are eying exit opportunities, although some analysts have scoffed at the idea, saying things like datacenter capacity, egress fees from hyperscalers, a lack of platform skills, and the lack of a variety of cloud services outside of the big providers meant US cloud was entrenched.

EC talks signal concern

But the discussions with the EC speak of more than just due diligence in looking at all possible cloud vendors.

OVHcloud told The Register, "Ongoing discussions with the European Commission, as well as with other public and private organisations, reflect a growing interest in migrating to a sovereign cloud."

The company, as well as other cloud players in Europe, such as IONOS, are seeking to capitalize on the disquiet in the continent over a perceived dependence on US vendors. Dr Markus Noga, CTO at IONOS, told The Register that not considering that the world has changed and alternatives might be required would be "negligent" on the part of CIOs.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, as you'd imagine, was quick to defend its ongoing relationship with the European Union's leadership, saying: "Microsoft is proud to offer the broadest set of sovereignty solutions on the market today and we will continue to look for new ways to ensure the European Commission and our other European customers have the options and assurances they need to operate with confidence." ®