The very short version: It has now become clear that European governments can no longer rely on American clouds, and that we lack good and comprehensive alternatives. Market forces have failed to deliver a truly European cloud, and businesses won’t naturally buy as yet unproven cloud services, even when adorned with a beautiful European 🇪🇺 flag, so for now nothing will happen.

This means it’s time for industrial policy, which requires politics to be proficient in “industry.” Such proficiency is the only way to develop policies and plans that don’t go off the rails (which, unfortunately, can happen in many ways).

With a coherent strategy (see below for a suggestion), governments and industry can rapidly improve the cloud situation, allowing Europe to once more manage its own services without American prying eyes and without fearing the consequences of sanctions & transatlantic disputes.

That concludes the short version.