Europe aims to wean itself off US technology, Politico writes

European governments and corporations are racing to reduce their exposure to U.S. technology, military hardware and energy resources as transatlantic relations sour, Politico writes.

For decades, the EU relied on NATO guarantees to ensure security in the bloc, and on American technology to power its business. Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, and aggressive comments about Europe by members of his administration, have given fresh impetus to European leaders’ call for “independence.”

“If we want to be taken seriously again, we will have to learn the language of power politics,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week.

EU leaders warn that transatlantic relations are unlikely to return to the pre-Trump status quo.

EU officials stress that such measures amount to “de-risking” Europe’s relationship with the U.S., rather than “decoupling” — a term that implies a clean break in economic and strategic ties. Until recently, both expressions were mainly applied to European efforts to reduce dependence on China. Now, they are coming up in relation to the U.S., Europe’s main trade partner and security benefactor.

“It’s very clear that Europe is having our independence moment,” EU tech czar Henna Virkkunen told a Politico conference last week. “During the last year, everybody has really realized how important it is that we are not dependent on one country or one company when it comes to some very critical technologies.”

France is moving to ban public officials from using American platforms including Google Meet, Zoom and Teams, a government spokesperson told Politico. Officials will soon make the switch to Visio, a videoconferencing tool that runs on infrastructure provided by French firm Outscale.

In the European Parliament, lawmakers are urging its president, Roberta Metsola, to ditch U.S. software and hardware, as well as a U.S.-based travel booking tool.

In Germany, politicians want a potential German or European substitute for software made by U.S. data analysis firm Palantir.