Europe: European Union criticized for new cloud contract bidding rules

European countries including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Airbus, and 15 others, have criticized the latest draft of the European Union's cybersecurity certification scheme (CCS), which they claim will make it easier for hyperscalers to bid for EU cloud computing contracts.

The US tech giants including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google will no longer need to set up a joint venture with a local company to store and process data, should the draft be approved. It remains under review by EU countries and will be discussed on April 15.

The letter said: "The inclusion of EU-HQ and European control requirements in the main scheme is necessary to mitigate the risk of unlawful data access on the basis of foreign laws."

The companies warned that foreign governments could access data under laws including the US Cloud Act and the Chinese National Intelligence Law. "Removing such requirements from the scheme would seriously undermine the viability of sovereign cloud solutions in Europe – many of which are either in development or already available on the market," the companies said.