Dutch firms rethink U.S. cloud ties amid legal and trade fears
Dutch businesses are increasingly exploring alternatives to American cloud providers amid growing fears of geopolitical tensions and legal exposure. IT service firms report a surge in clients requesting strategies to reduce their reliance on U.S. tech giants such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, citing trade threats and data security concerns.
Lucas Jellema of IT services company Conclusion told Financieele Dagblad (FD) that companies are now actively seeking exit strategies. “Even clients who six months ago wanted to move more services to the cloud are now reconsidering,” he said.
“In extreme cases, you hear companies fear that Donald Trump could shut off the internet or at least block access to American cloud services,” FD journalist Sandra Olsthoorn told BNR. While such scenarios may sound far-fetched, she added that less dramatic but still disruptive developments, like import tariffs imposed by the European Union, could also make U.S. cloud services more expensive.
According to Olsthoorn, the issue has become a central topic of discussion between IT consultants and their clients. “It’s not like everyone is switching en masse, but everyone is waking up and thinking: we need to do something serious about this.”
The corporate sector is not alone in its concern. The Dutch government has already begun pushing to reduce dependency on U.S. tech providers following a critical report by the Algemene Rekenkamer, the Dutch Court of Audit. That report, published earlier this year, concluded that the quality of government services to citizens and businesses is at risk due to the overreliance on American platforms. The Cabinet has since called for accelerated efforts to reduce that dependency—not only for the central government but also for lower levels of public administration.
Despite the momentum, moving away from U.S. cloud services is easier said than done. “Cloud actually means many different services,” Olsthoorn explained. “If it’s just about storing raw data in data centers, that’s still relatively simple. But the large American companies have invested in security for years, and that level of protection is still lacking at many European providers.”
Another complicating factor is the legal landscape. The Netherlands is home to several large data centers operated by international firms. While those facilities fall under European law, many companies remain concerned about the implications of the U.S. Cloud Act. That law gives the American government authority to access data stored outside the United States under certain conditions, a risk that continues to worry business leaders.
“This issue has been kicked down the road for a long time,” Olsthoorn said. “Companies would say: ‘We’ll look into that next year.’ But now, serious plans are being made and people are evaluating what’s actually possible. If demand for European services increases, those providers can grow, too.”
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt) warned about the dominance of U.S. tech firms three years ago, and the Algemene Rekenkamer has raised concerns repeatedly. Yet the urgency only seems to have taken hold recently, with businesses now acting on longstanding doubts. “People are waking up,” Olsthoorn said.
