After the second World War, Europe was in ruins and needed to find ways to preserve peace. Part of the solution was to create the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), one of the EU’s predecessors. The idea was to create a single common market and to make countries more interdependent on each other. The interdependency would reduce the likelihood of armed conflict since the countries would then exist in a symbiotic relationship. The ECSC and the later creation of the EU have been a tremendous success, ensuring peace and prosperity in Europe for decades and counting. The idea of interdependency has also been crucial in building up the free markets of the world.
It is believed that the same principle of interdependency was a driving factor when Europe chose to become dependent on Russian oil and gas and Chinese manufacturing: Create a relationship in which producers of goods rely on the steady stream of capital to continue funding the production. However, the peace project took a serious beating when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. All of a sudden, Europe found itself at a crossroads: Continue to rely on outsourcing crucial production to promote peace and collaboration, or start in-housing these processes to become more resilient? Europe chose the latter, famously encapsulated in Emmanuel Macron’s speech at the Sorbonne University 1 year ago: “The era when Europe bought its energy and fertilizers from Russia, had its goods manufactured in China, and delegated its security to the United States of America, is over.” (Macron, 2024).
While the horizon may look challenging with the ongoing war, the forming of BRICKS and the looming trade wars, international collaboration is more important now than ever. Companies, countries and people alike fight to maintain and uphold international collaboration and exchange. Later this year, Norway will host the United Nation’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and it is expected to be more important than ever. Similarly, universities and student exchange programs continue to promote and provide opportunities to build strong academic collaborations across borders. Microsoft, Europe’s most important provider of both artificial intelligence and SaaS applications, pledged to deepen its European commitments.
A recent blog post by Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, encapsulates these commitments. The commitments were also doubled down on by Microsoft Norway and were extensively covered by both Norwegian and European media:
Microsoft continues to increase its investments in European datacenters. As pointed out by Smith in his post, these investments will add another 40% capacity over the next two years alone. Datacenters and their increased capacity will be pivotal in ensuring Europe’s sustained competitive position and continued venture into a cloud-based architecture. This investment manifests Microsoft’s European commitments far beyond words. As Smith puts it: “Microsoft is investing tens of billions of dollars annually in expanding its datacenters across Europe. These investments aren’t on wheels.”
Recently, European governments have voiced the need for more national control over cloud services and datacenters. In its blog post, Microsoft highlighted projects from France and Germany aimed at ensuring national control while providing access to both Microsoft Azure and productivity tools. Microsoft’s flexibility to work with European governments and decisions makers is also evident in its work with the European Commission and its expert groups and different projects. The company has also been instrumental in ensuring Ukraine’s survival by providing expert counseling throughout the war. In fact, Microsoft estimates it has spent over 500 million US Dollars of assistance to Ukraine over the last 2,5 years. The support is still going strong.
Microsoft’s confidence is enshrined by their European Digital Resilience Commitment (EDRC). The EDRC pledges that Microsoft will contest to and fight against any and all suspension or cease orders by any government. The EDRC clause is also legally binding, as it is being added to all European contracts with the Commission and national governments. Should everything else fail, Microsoft’s vows to continue to support Europe through its signing of contingency arrangements as delineated in Smith’s blog post. Just as when the European Coal and Steel Community was created in the early 1950’s, interdependency is a crucial component in ensuring international collaboration, peace and trust, and the interdependency between Europe and Microsoft is as strong as ever.
Infotechtion is a proud Microsoft partner, effortlessly working to ensure access to Microsoft Purview for both global and European businesses alike. We remain confident that Microsoft will be available and play an important role in the lives of the tens of thousands of European businesses that rely on Microsoft every day. If you need an uplifting and informative text to read this week, we recommend reviewing Smith’s blogpost. You find it here: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/04/30/european-digital-commitments/
You can also check out Infotechtion’s data governance solutions right here: https://infotechtion.com/solutions/
Our team has extensive expertise in Microsoft365products and technology. Connect with one of our experts today, we’re here to guide you through data security and governance. Reach out to us at contact@infotechtion.com to speak to an expert or request a demo. Visit our website at www.infotechtion.com.
Sources:
- Macron, E. (2024). Europe Speech. Elysee. Accessed: https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2024/04/24/europe-speech
- Sørsdahl, E. (2025). Europa kan stole på oss. For TV2. Accessed: https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/utenriks/europa-kan-stole-pa-oss/17690605/
- Smith, B. (2025). Microsoft announces new European digital commitments. Accessed: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/04/30/european-digital-commitments/
