Benchmark finds 37.2% of EU government websites on non-EU-controlled networks

The European Commission's eGovernment Benchmark 2026 found that 37.2% of assessed EU government websites were hosted on network infrastructure ultimately controlled by organizations headquartered outside the EU, Capgemini said. The study, produced by Capgemini, Sogeti and IDC, introduced pilot digital sovereignty indicators in 2026 covering the network and routing infrastructure behind government websites and email systems.

Dependence was higher for email. The benchmark found 60.4% of incoming government email services and 50.3% of outgoing services rely on infrastructure operated by organizations whose ultimate ownership lies outside the EU, Capgemini said.

The United States was by far the most prominent non-EU jurisdiction. U.S.-owned operators provide the network infrastructure through which 32% of assessed government websites, 35.2% of incoming government email services and 45.5% of outgoing services are routed, according to the study. It said the reliance is driven by a small number of globally dominant providers, including Microsoft, Cloudflare, Google and Amazon.

Why the numbers matter

The study said technological dependencies may expose critical public services to non-EU legal and regulatory frameworks, with implications for data governance, data flows and reliance on external providers for service continuity. It said public leaders should map dependencies, assess where they create risks and strengthen resilience through diversification, contingency planning, open standards and exit strategies.

Capgemini said governments have managed the technical demands of digital services by increasingly relying on external technology providers for cloud platforms, hosting environments and globally distributed communications infrastructure.

Market concentration

Synergy Research Group figures published in July 2025 show European cloud providers more than tripled their domestic revenue between 2017 and 2024. The market grew sixfold over the same period to €61 billion, leaving European providers with a share that fell from 29% to about 15%, where it has remained since 2022. Amazon, Microsoft and Google hold about 70% of the European market, according to Synergy. NEC's IISE research unit put the same three at roughly two-thirds of the global market.

Policy response

NEC's IISE research unit said the European Tech Sovereignty Package, published in June 2026, covers cloud, AI, semiconductors and open source. Its central Cloud and AI Development Act would introduce four sovereignty assurance levels for public procurement, the report said. The Commission has applied a Cloud Sovereignty Framework to its own procurement since October 2025, ahead of the legislation.

The same report said Germany's BSI finalised its C5:2026 audit catalogue at the end of March 2026 and published C3A on 27 April 2026, covering legal jurisdiction, operations, supply chain and emergency disconnection.