EditorialSeptember 2024
Three American firms run 70% of Europe’s cloud — and almost all of its AI.
Mario Draghi’s verdict to the European Parliament: only four of the world’s top fifty tech companies are European. “It is too late,” he writes, to challenge American cloud providers. Without radical reform, the EU faces “slow agony.”
The Draghi Report · Brussels
01 / 12
Field NoteDecember 2024
Denmark warns: digital society is now “extremely vulnerable.”
The expert group on tech giants reports: dependence on a handful of foreign suppliers is no longer a procurement question. It is a national security one. Minister Bodskov: “we need to fence in the tech giants.”
Danish Expert Group · Copenhagen
02 / 12
RuptureJanuary 2025
Trump refuses to rule out military force against Greenland.
Two weeks before inauguration, the president-elect threatens “very high tariffs” on Denmark. The shock in Copenhagen is total.
Mar-a-Lago · Press Conference
03 / 12
RuptureMay 2025
Microsoft cuts off the ICC chief prosecutor’s email.
A US tech company, complying with a US executive order, disables the digital life of an officer of an international tribunal in the Netherlands. The “kill switch” stops being theoretical.
Associated Press · The Hague
04 / 12
RegulationJune 2025
Microsoft admits under oath: it cannot guarantee European sovereignty.
Even data on European soil, with European staff, encrypted with European keys — US authorities can compel disclosure under the CLOUD Act. The legal fiction collapses.
French Senate Hearing · Paris
05 / 12
Field NoteJune 2025
Copenhagen’s Microsoft bill jumps 72% in five years.
From 313 to 538 million Danish kroner. Copenhagen and Aarhus announce they will leave Microsoft entirely. The minister of emergency tells companies: “create exit plans for cloud services.”
Copenhagen Municipality · Finance Report
06 / 12
RegulationSummer 2025
A Danish minister tells industry: prepare your exit plans for cloud services.
Caroline Stage Olsen begins moving her ministry off Microsoft 365. The minister of emergency preparedness urges every Danish company to do the same. Continued dependence is now classified as a vulnerability.
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs
07 / 12
RuptureAugust 2025
Trump threatens tariffs against any country with digital regulations.
“American technology is not the world’s piggy bank.” The DSA, the DMA, the AI Act — all reframed as discriminatory trade barriers. Chip export restrictions are added to the list of consequences.
Truth Social · Washington
08 / 12
RuptureJanuary 2026
Trump imposes tariffs on Denmark and seven European nations.
10% in February. 25% from June — until Denmark cedes Greenland. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK. The post-war alliance, weaponised.
Presidential Executive Order
09 / 12
RuptureJanuary 2026
Denmark names the United States as a national security threat.
For the first time in history, the official Danish threat assessment lists the US alongside Russia and China. Defence committee chair Rasmus Jarlov tells Washington: “You are the threat. Not them.”
Danish Defence Intelligence · FE
10 / 12
ProductFebruary 2026
The court that prosecutes war crimes can no longer use American software.
The ICC migrates to OpenDesk — an open-source suite delivered by the German Centre for Digital Sovereignty. If a global tribunal cannot trust Microsoft, the implication for every other European institution is unavoidable.
Handelsblatt · The Hague
11 / 12
RegulationQ1 2026
Europe drafts a sovereignty law as US firms still hold 70% of the cloud.
Europe writes rules for infrastructure it does not own. US hyperscalers add €10 billion of European capacity every quarter — more than Gaia-X spent in a decade. The servers stay in Texas. The AI models stay in California. The law changes neither.
European Commission · Brussels
12 / 12