Access to digital tools changed this week for millions of European government employees. Civil servants in France, soldiers in Austria, and German bureaucrats must stop using U.S. platforms immediately. This abrupt shift to domestic or open-source alternatives signals a permanent end to Silicon Valley’s public sector dominance.
The disruption hits hard at day-to-day operations. Meetings, secure communications, and file sharing now rely on unproven local systems like France’s Visio. Workflows are already in motion to adapt, yet the transition remains fraught with technical friction and aggressive rollout deadlines.
The French government announced last week that 2.5 million civil servants will stop using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and GoTo Meeting by 2027, switching instead to a homegrown platform, Visio. Officials said the decision is intended to secure sensitive data and reduce dependence on foreign providers.
The decision reflects a broader European push for digital sovereignty. Governments across Austria, Germany, Denmark, and France have begun moving employees off U.S.-based office and collaboration tools, including cloud storage and email systems, in favor of local or open-source solutions.
The operational impact is already visible. In Austria, soldiers now use LibreOffice to write reports after the military dropped Microsoft Office. In Germany, 44,000 state employees migrated from Microsoft email to open-source platforms, while some offices are evaluating Linux and other open-source tools to replace Windows.
Market and vendor responses have been cautious. U.S. cloud providers have accelerated “sovereign cloud” services, establishing European-based data centers operated by EU entities. Even so, access rules, staff credentials, and permissions are still being adjusted, creating ongoing friction across affected institutions.
The transition will not resolve overnight. Large-scale migrations affect approvals, document workflows, and coordination between departments. Institutions must balance continuity of operations with compliance to new sovereign digital systems, slowing the pace of adoption.
Employees and offices are reacting. Some are delaying full migrations while testing alternatives. Others are splitting time between old and new platforms. The mixture of systems has increased operational strain and uncertainty in daily administrative tasks.
The drive toward sovereignty gained urgency after incidents such as the Trump administration’s sanctions on the ICC prosecutor, which prompted Microsoft to restrict access temporarily. European officials now see reliance on foreign tech as a potential leverage point that could affect critical operations or sensitive communications.
This shift continues to evolve. Some cities, regions, and military units have completed full transitions, while others are still in mid-migration. Additional governments may accelerate similar measures, creating further systemic disruption across Europe’s public institutions.
The ultimate outcome remains unresolved. Millions of employees are adjusting to new tools, workflows are in flux, and governments continue to decide how quickly and extensively to implement digital sovereignty measures. For now, the situation remains active and operationally uncertain.
