Europe’s tech sovereignty watch
For decades, Europe turned to US tech instead of investing at home. Today, that choice threatens its economic stability, cybersecurity, and democratic sovereignty.
Over 74% of all publicly listed European companies depend on US-based tech services, like Google and Microsoft. This means their sensitive business data, including the 117 emails workers receive on average each day, budgets, client lists, and memos from the CEO, are exposed to:
AI training
Foreign pressure
Warrantless surveillance
Digital sovereignty is an illusion when Europe’s infrastructure is controlled from abroad. To secure its future, Europe must invest in European solutions.
Which countries rely most on US tech?
Proton analyzed business email domains across Europe to show how many publicly listed companies are reliant on US email and email security services. We looked at email because it’s often the gateway to a company’s tech stack. When a company chooses an email service, it often uses the entire suite.
Top US tech usage
Bad for Europe — and your business
When your company relies on US tech companies, you’re not just outsourcing tech. You’re exposing your organization to strategic risks that are out of your control:
Your sensitive information could be used to train AI
You’re vulnerable in times of geopolitical tension
Your sensitive information is subject to US legal overreach
You’re fueling a brain drain out of Europe
You’re limiting European innovation
Control your data to control your future
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With Proton, you can:
Avoid exposure to US surveillance and government overreach (unlike Google or Microsoft)
Host your data entirely in Europe, protected by EU and Swiss law
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Verify our open-source and independently audited code
Use enterprise-ready services, with easy migration tools and full admin control
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Key highlights from our study
France
Businesses' dependence on US tech by market value*
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by sector
66% of French businesses rely on US tech
Roughly two of every three publicly listed businesses in France rely on US tech to handle their emails, an alarming reality for a country that prides itself on being a tech leader of Europe. And the larger the company, the more likely it is to use US tech. Every publicly listed French company worth more than €200 billion uses a US tech stack. Despite France’s push for strategic autonomy, this dependence on foreign tech leaves critical industries vulnerable to external influence, instability, and surveillance.
Some of the most vital sectors are even more dependent. Over 70% of the strategically important French utility sector, which includes electricity, natural gas, and water treatment companies, uses US email services. These services are not optional. That such critical infrastructure relies so heavily on foreign tech for operational communications raises serious national security concerns.
France’s automobile and components industry, one of the country’s largest employers, is also incredibly dependent. Nearly 77% of the industry relies on US tech. In an industry where innovation is key and competition is fierce — and where the US is both a supplier and a rival — this is a strategic blind spot. It’s not just a question of control but resilience. How secure is France’s industrial future when the digital tools powering it come from abroad?
But the most revealing signal comes from France’s homegrown tech sector. Roughly 80% of publicly listed French software and services firms and 79% of technology hardware and equipment companies rely on US services. This structural weakness limits the growth potential of the entire sector and leaves it vulnerable to geopolitical pressure or commercial disruption.
United Kingdom
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by market value*
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by sector
88% of UK businesses rely on US tech
UK businesses are almost universally dependent on US tech, regardless of their size. Even within the least reliant segment — companies worth less than €50 million — over 80% of publicly listed businesses rely on US email services. But the UK’s largest corporations are the most dependent group. Every publicly listed company worth more than €200 billion uses US tech. This is shocking for a country home to a tech sector worth $1.1 trillion, the largest in Europe and the third largest globally.
Some of the UK’s most critical industries are also its most exposed. Its banking and telecommunications sectors (both at 95%) are the two most dependent, and nearly 90% of publicly listed utilities companies use US tech. Basically, if Britons want to make a phone call, withdraw cash, or turn on a light, the overwhelming odds are that the infrastructure behind it runs on foreign tech. That’s a critical weakness for any nation’s infrastructure.
Even the UK’s thriving tech scene, which trails only the US and China in valuation, is heavily dependent on US tech. Roughly 94% of publicly listed software and services companies and 82% of technology hardware and equipment companies use US services. This means local talent and capital flow straight into Silicon Valley rather than strengthening domestic capabilities. This dependence doesn’t just prevent the UK tech sector from closing the gap with the US — it makes the sector incredibly reliant on a direct competitor just to maintain its current position.
Ireland
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by market value*
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by sector
93% of Irish companies rely on US tech
Ireland has become Big Tech’s outpost of choice in the EU, with Apple, Meta, Google, and Microsoft all basing their European headquarters there. This helps explain how US tech has become so embedded in its publicly listed companies. In 19 economic sectors, every Irish business depends on US companies to handle its email. These sectors include essential services, such as communications, utilities, and health care.
If access to these US platforms were restricted, core Irish services — from patient care to being able to turn on the lights — could be disrupted. Ireland is also incredibly exposed economically. In addition to relying on US tech companies for tax revenue and thousands of high-paying jobs, all publicly listed companies in Ireland’s pharmaceutical and biotech sector, a cornerstone of its export economy, use US tech.
For a country that hosts so many multinational firms and boasts a well-educated workforce, Ireland’s overreliance on US tech is a strategic liability. The only sectors of the Irish economy where fewer than 50% of publicly listed companies use US tech are diversified financials and automobiles and components. Ireland’s preferential treatment of US tech has crowded out homegrown alternatives, stifled innovation, and left entire industries vulnerable to decisions made outside of Europe.
Spain
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by market value*
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by sector
74% of Spanish businesses rely on US tech
In Spain, at least two of every three publicly listed companies worth more than €50 million rely on US tech to function. This dependency grows as these companies scale. The larger they get, the more likely they are to use services like Microsoft or Google. This suggests that many companies see US tech ecosystems as the only viable option once they reach a certain size. This should be a wake-up call for Spain’s tech sector and the whole EU: If local providers can’t develop tools to serve companies in their back yard, how can they compete globally?
There are six economic sectors in Spain where 100% of the businesses rely on US software, including the critical energy and banking industries. In other sensitive sectors, like utilities (such as electricity, water treatment, or sewage), transportation, software and services, and health care, at least 75% of publicly listed companies rely on US tech. This remarkable level of dependence is more than business risk — it’s a potential national security threat, giving a foreign power leverage over essential industries that the Spanish public uses every day.
Portugal
Businesses’ reliance on US tech by market value*
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by sector
72% of Portuguese businesses rely on US tech
While Portugal’s economy is relatively modest, it’s still striking to see how many sectors rely entirely on US tech. Nearly three-quarters of publicly listed companies use US-based email, including every single company in nine major economic sectors.
These fully reliant sectors include essential services like energy, transportation, and banking, systems that people can’t avoid. If the US wanted to exert pressure, it could compel these services to raise prices or restrict access altogether, potentially disrupting everything from train schedules to ATM networks. This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. These are serious vulnerabilities within Portugal’s national infrastructure.
Even worse, all of Portugal’s publicly listed software and IT services companies rely on US tech to get work done. This doesn’t just limit their ability to compete on the global stage — it prevents homegrown alternatives from developing, entrenching the very dependency Portugal should be trying to escape.
Switzerland
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by market value*
Businesses’ dependence on US tech by sector
68% of Swiss businesses rely on US tech
Two of every three publicly traded Swiss companies rely on US email service providers to run their day-to-day operations. Even worse, 80% of publicly traded utilities companies, 77% of health care providers, and 67% of energy companies use US tech, leaving critical infrastructure exposed to geopolitical pressure. For a country that's built its reputation on independence and neutrality, this is a massive vulnerability.
Some of the sectors most critical to the Swiss economy are even more exposed. The service industry, which includes banking, finance, insurance, and professional services (among others), accounted for 70% of the country's GDP in 2023 and employed 78% of its workforce in 2024. In all these sectors (except banking), at least 67% of publicly traded companies use US tech.
Exports are another cornerstone of the Swiss economy, powered by its pharmaceuticals sector. In 2023, packaged medicaments and vaccines were its second- and third-most valuable exports (behind gold), worth a combined $80 billion. Yet 77% of publicly traded companies in this foundational sector rely on US tech to communicate and operate.
This is more than a question of which technology stack to use. The heart of Switzerland's economy runs on digital infrastructure from the US, meaning its economic future and ability to act independently on the world stage depend on decisions made far from Bern or Zurich.
*Nano: Under €50 million | Micro: €50 million–€300 million | Small: €300 million–€2 billion | Mid: €2 billion–€10 billion | Large: €10 billion-€200 billion | Mega: Over €200 billion
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Frequently asked questions
- How did Proton find this information?
- What are some examples of US tech services?
- Why do some countries show fewer sectors than others?