Europe can build a federal cloud platform based on its existing data center infrastructure—open-source, fair, and sustainable—through regional marketplaces that grow into a unified European market for digital resources.

IDED (formerly known as SDIA) published this vision paper to show how Europe can address the structural challenges of the current cloud market while creating digital infrastructure that aligns with European values.

The analysis identifies four key challenges:

• Resource Waste: Current cloud infrastructure operates with significant inefficiencies, creating an unnecessarily large CO₂ footprint.

• Market Concentration: U.S. tech giants dominate the European cloud market, limiting geopolitical independence and economic participation.

• Anti-competitive Practices: Cloud credits, vendor lock-in through bundled services, and vertical integration prevent smaller providers from competing effectively.

• Underutilized Infrastructure: Existing European data centers operate far below capacity because redundancy architectures are designed for peak loads.

The vision proposes a European cloud platform based on regional marketplaces, built on three design principles: fairness through competitive markets, efficiency through higher utilization rates, and European alignment through unified access to digital resources. Regions create their own infrastructure and connect it with national and European marketplaces—forming a competitive market for digital resources.

The full whitepaper is available for download.