Microsoft, Meta and Google have colonized the European technological market. But freeing yourself from the US power can be. And to break the monopoly companies such as Nextcloud on servers, TomTom Go in the maps, Zalando in e-commerce and Mistral in artificial intelligence.
For some it is a question of belly. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and their colleagues fromHI Tech USA They became unpleasant, especially after the genuflections in front of President Donald Trump, so bad with us Europeans. Of course, they are brilliant entrepreneurs, but too rich and too powerful: we can’t take it anymore! For others, hostility has rational motivations: it will be true, as Washington claims, which we buy a few “made in the USA” products, but it is equally true that in the digital field the various Amazon, chatgpts, Google, Meta and Microsoft dominate our market.
A continent dependent on Big Tech
Just turn on a smartphone and a PC to realize that almost all the applications and programs we use are American. Research engines, maps, social, artificial intelligence, all managed by giants that suck a large slice of advertising investments, often violating antitrust laws and paying a few taxes.
Moreover, the old continent has played a secondary role in the digital scenario, depending on the companies with overseas headquarters and limiting itself to regulating and protecting privacy. The European Union has attempted to rebalance the situation by introducing a tax on digital services, a measure that would have forced giants such as Google and Amazon to pay taxes in the countries where they actually generate profits, rather than exploiting the network of tax havens. A battle that immediately attracted the united States Ire. Washington replied by brandishing the threat of commercial duties and penalties, triggering an arm wrestling in which Europe has come out defeated with the tail between the legs.
A vital infrastructure in the US hands
The problem is that European dependence on Big Tech has taken over the outline of a widespread subordination over the years: schools, ministries, hospitals and businesses use US systems to operate, archive data, communicate. Not only our digital life, but an entire vital infrastructure is in the hands of companies that respond to non -European political and legal logic.
The episode of the block of the Microsoft account of the International Criminal Court, which occurred in February, was an alarm bell that resonated throughout Europe: Microsoft, as a company based in the United States and therefore subject to the laws of its country, had to respect the government’s order to block access to the email service and other data from the Court, which were hosted on its servers.
This event raised concerns about digital sovereignty and dependence of international institutions by extra-European technological suppliers.
The first European answers
Perhaps the time has come to look for European alternatives to the US services. An interesting signal came from Denmark, which has chosen to gradually reduce the use of Microsoft products to embrace open source solutions such as Linux and LibreOffice. It was not a choice dictated by savings, but a strategic decision, a clear political signal. Motivation is digital sovereignty: the need for a country to have control over its critical infrastructures, reducing the dangerous dependence on suppliers who, in the event of geopolitical tensions, could block access to essential data and services.
Denmark is not alone. France pushes for the adoption of sovereign clouds, and also Holland and Germany have expressed their intention to move in the same direction, recognizing that safety and privacy can no longer be delegated to a software that is not controlled.
Nextcloud, Proton and alternatives to the US domain
But can the American technological infrastructure really be replaced without sacrificing efficiency and quality? The answer is partly positive, because in some fields Europe can already offer an ecosystem of specialized companies, each excellent in its own field, which together can offer a competitive alternative to Microsoft or Google. But not in all sectors.
In productivity software, for example, Nextcloud, a German company, has transformed the cloud storage into a complete collaborative platform that challenges Microsoft 365, offering not only an excellent office suite and a videoconference system, but above all the possibility of maintaining full control over the data, installing everything on its servers. To this are added the Suite OnlyOffice, from Latvia, famous for its compatibility with the Microsoft formats, and the Proton ecosystem, from Switzerland, which offers emails and cloud storage by putting privacy in the center.
Qwant, Ecosia and the challenge to Google
Also for the services we use every day, there are robust alternatives. For research, the challenge to Google is not only played on the power of indexing, but on the protection of privacy. Qwant, from France, guarantees private research without tracing users, while the German ecosia uses profits to plant trees, offering a use experience that has a positive impact on the planet.
Navigation and European maps
In the field of navigation, beat Google Maps is not easy, given its integration with Google information, but there are reliable European products: here Wego, born in Germany, is owned by a consortium of European car manufacturers and offers proper quality maps and navigation, with the indication of shops and services; TomTom Go Navigation, from Holland, is famous for its accuracy on traffic data; And the Slovak Sygic offers an excellent browsing experience, especially for those looking for offline features. Without forgetting the immense community of Openstreetmap, which feeds navigators such as Osmand.
Europe in artificial intelligence
And in the rapidly evolution sector of generative artificial intelligence, Europe has not remained watching. The French start-up Mistral quickly conquered the international scene with its high-performance linguistic models, which compete directly with those of Openi by Sam Altman. The German Aleph Alpha, with its Luminous model, stands out for a crucial feature: “explanability”, that is, the ability to show the user the exact sources that have contributed to generating an answer, a fundamental aspect in sensitive sectors such as medical or legal sectors.
European e-commerce tries to resist
Even in the world of e-commerce, Europe has its champions, albeit smaller and less generalist of Amazon and Chinese groups such as Aliexpress. Zalando, the German fashion platform, offers impeccable customer service and a vast offer. The Allegro Polish is a leader in his market and is expanding, while in Italy reality such as ePrice in electronics and Yoox in luxury and fashion offer specialized alternatives.
The insurmountable limits: social and youtube
Despite progress, however, there are sectors in which the supremacy of the US giants is unassailable. The biggest challenge is not technological, but human, linked to the “network effect”. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are not simple services, but real social ecosystems, where communities have been formed, bonds have been built and entire economies have developed. Replicating the vastness and pervasiveness of Meta social media, which have become a connective tissue for entire local communities, is an almost impossible challenge.
The same goes for YouTube. Although Dailymotion, the French alternative, has a similar model, and Peertube offers a decentralized solution, none of the two has reached the power of YouTube to create an economy of “creator” and to influence popular culture. The algorithm of YouTube recommendation, which holds users glued to the screen for hours, and its base of endless users represent a barrier at the entrance which is almost insurmountable.
The only possible way to Europe
The dream of a “European Google” or of a “European Amazon” is a chimera that will never come to life.
The real way to Europe is different: to build a plural ecosystem, made up of many specialized and integrated realities.
We will probably see an environment born where Nextcloud, Proton, Mistral, Zalando and Ecosia will be able to coexist and thrive, offering European citizens a concrete alternative to the American giants. The challenge has just begun.
