Microsoft pats itself on the back over European commitments

Microsoft has published a review of how it's fulfilled the digital commitments it made to Europe last year – and the tech giant says there are further pledges on the horizon.

A year ago, the company said it would help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe with a series of commitments, including:

• Upholding Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility
• Protecting the privacy of European data
• Bolstering European cybersecurity capabilities
• Strengthening the region’s economic competitiveness, including in open source

"Together, they reflect a simple principle: Europe should be able to use global technology at scale, under European rules, with confidence that it will remain available, secure, and under customer control," said Samer Abu-Ltaif, president of Microsoft EMEA and Jeff Bullwinkel, VP and deputy general counsel, corporate external and legal Affairs, Microsoft EMEA.

Infrastructure expansion continues

In terms of infrastructure expansion, the company claims it’s made significant strides, particularly with the announcement of new multi-billion Euro investments in Portugal, Norway, and the UK.

This, the firm noted, is helping European organizations access cloud and AI capabilities closer to home - adding that it's committed to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating its products and services.

Meanwhile, it's been supporting its customers’ operational continuity in extreme scenarios through a European resiliency partnership with Delos Cloud and a strategic partnership with Capgemini.

These aim to provide managed sovereign cloud services for European enterprises, while a similar deal with Accenture is also providing support for the design and implementation of sovereign cloud and AI solutions.

Microsoft hails data privacy boosts

On the thorny issue of European data privacy, Microsoft cited a series of initiatives aimed at shoring up protections for European consumers and businesses.

These include the launch of the Defending Your Data Initiative, as well as adherence to the EU Data Boundary which covers the storage and processing of European customer data.

Meanwhile, the Data Guardian initiative now ensures that remote access by Microsoft engineers to European customer data is approved and monitored by personnel residing in Europe.

"Over the past year, we have strengthened our sovereign solutions through new contractual assurances, closer partnerships with European providers, and expanded customer support,” the company noted in its blog post.

Cybersecurity focus

When it comes to cybersecurity, Microsoft pointed to its free European Security Program (ESP), available for governments across the UK, EU, EFTA, and EU accession countries.

"We have provided cybersecurity support to NATO, Ukraine, and other European governments, including threat intelligence, election protection, and disrupting attacks targeting European governments, companies, and citizens," said Abu-Ltaif and Bullwinkel.

"Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when we helped move critical data and services to secure data centers across Europe and defend against sustained cyber attacks and eventual kinetic attacks."

Open source the “North Star” in Europe

Support for the open source ecosystem has been a key focus over the last year, according to the firm.

Almost 25 million European software developers are now active on GitHub, for example, while Microsoft Foundry expansions have opened access to roughly 11,000 AI models.

"These commitments are our North Star for how we engage in Europe, grounded in European law and values, shaped by European priorities, and designed to progress over time," said Abu-Ltaif and Bullwinkel.

"As Europe’s digital and geopolitical context continues to evolve, we will keep engaging with policymakers, regulators, customers, and partners to test whether what we are delivering matches what Europe needs. Where it does not, we will adapt."

Taking Microsoft at face value

Ross Kelly

While Microsoft is keen to emphasize the work it’s doing across Europe, the company’s activities in areas such as cloud computing and software have been subject to criticism.

The tech giant has been embroiled in a series of high-profile legal battles over its software licensing schemes in Europe, with software bundling proving controversial.

Alongside competitors, the tech giant has rolled out a series of new sovereignty-focused services for European organizations, but questions have been raised over whether or not these are truly ‘sovereign’.

During a court hearing last year, Microsoft said it “cannot guarantee” data sovereignty for French customers in the event that the US administration demands access under the Cloud Act.

Under the legislation, the US administration has the legal authority to demand American providers provide data regardless of whether it is stored in-country or abroad.

The Cloud Act has become a recurring flashpoint in the digital sovereignty debate, while similar frameworks in the European Union have also been criticised for continuing reliance on US hyperscalers.

Earlier this month, the European Commission awarded a series of digital sovereignty contracts to European organizations, but this scheme also included involvement from Google Cloud.

CISPE recently launched a new framework for European enterprises to validate whether the services they’re paying for meet ‘sovereign’ requirements.

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