The Gesellschaft für Informatik, Germany's leading professional association for information technology, has called for European nations to exclude American technology companies from critical infrastructure projects, marking a potential turning point in transatlantic digital cooperation.
The recommendation, reported by Golem.de, represents the most explicit statement yet from German technology professionals about growing concerns over digital sovereignty and reliability of American technology partners.
The GI's position reflects deepening unease within European technology circles about dependence on US cloud computing, networking equipment, and software for systems essential to government operations, energy grids, telecommunications networks, and financial infrastructure. The association argues that recent political developments in the United States have made American technology firms unreliable partners for sensitive European systems.
"We can no longer assume that American companies will prioritize European interests when those conflict with US government directives," the association's statement noted, according to the Golem report. The recommendation explicitly mentions concerns about data access, supply chain security, and the extraterritorial application of American law.
The call comes amid broader European efforts to build technological autonomy. Germany has already committed billions of euros to developing domestic semiconductor manufacturing, cloud computing infrastructure, and quantum computing capabilities. The European Union's Chips Act and Digital Markets Act similarly aim to reduce dependence on non-European technology providers.
German industry has historically maintained close technological ties with American firms. Major cloud computing contracts with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud support significant portions of German enterprise and government IT infrastructure. Unwinding those relationships would require years and substantial investment in European alternatives.
Government officials in Berlin have not formally endorsed the GI recommendation, but digital policy discussions increasingly emphasize European technological sovereignty. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has pushed for military communications systems independent of American satellite networks, while the Interior Ministry reviews procurement rules for government IT systems.
The proposal faces practical challenges. European technology firms currently lack the scale and capabilities to fully replace American providers for many critical systems. Building that capacity would require coordinated industrial policy across multiple EU member states and sustained investment over a decade or more.
In Germany, as elsewhere in Europe, consensus takes time—but once built, it lasts. The question is whether European nations can develop the technological capabilities needed to match their increasingly assertive digital sovereignty rhetoric, or whether economic realities will force continued dependence on American technology partners despite political concerns.
