Proton
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The continent of Europe and the American flag

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.

The European Union flag behind the Statue of Liberty with a rising bar graph.

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

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Map of countries highlighted depending on their US tech usage
US tech usageLess
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Darker = more US tech
All GDP figures and rankings are based on IMF GDP PPP projections for 2025 (source: IMF(new window))

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

US Capitol faces Big Ben, Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Eiffel Tower.

Control your data to control your future

Proton gives European businesses a secure, fully featured alternative to US Big Tech. We are headquartered in Switzerland, and our services are end-to-end encrypted and GDPR compliant by design.

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

  • Secure your emails, files, and other sensitive data with end-to-end encryption and zero-access architecture

  • Verify our open-source and independently audited code

  • Use enterprise-ready services, with easy migration tools and full admin control

Take control of your data to protect yourself from foreign interference.

Key highlights from our study

France

Email under a surveillance eye with the Eiffel Tower in the background

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

Email under a surveillance eye with the Big Ben in the background

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

Email under a surveillance eye with the Justice statue at Dublin Castle in the background

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

Email under a surveillance eye with the Sagrada Familia in the background

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

Email under a surveillance eye with the Belém Tower in the background

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.

*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

Take control of your data

European businesses can’t afford to depend on foreign tech providers. Take control by switching to Proton, a secure, privacy-first suite of services that keeps your data in Europe.

Protect your data and your business.

Frequently asked questions

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What are some examples of US tech services?
Why do some countries show fewer sectors than others?