FREEDOM · Digital Sovereignty
EU Cloud Ban 2026:
What Small Businesses Must Do Now
On May 27, 2026 the EU Commission presented its most significant digital regulation since the GDPR. US cloud for health, finance and justice data is out. Here are three concrete steps for SMEs.
On May 27, 2026, the European Commission presented the Tech Sovereignty Package. The headlines were loud. The substance is quiet — and therefore more consequential than most people realise.
What the Package Actually Contains
Two core laws: the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) and the Chips Act 2.0. What CADA means in practice: public institutions across the EU may no longer use cloud services from providers whose parent company sits outside the EU — for health, financial and justice data.
That sounds like a government problem. It is also your problem.
Hospitals, social agencies, courts and financial regulators are your clients, your partners, your supply chain. When these institutions are forced to rebuild their infrastructure, the question becomes: which service providers do they turn to? Those still running on foreign servers? Or those who already operate digital independence as a baseline?
The Deeper Issue: The CLOUD Act Never Went Away
Long before this EU package existed, there was another law — less publicised, but broader in reach: the US Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act of 2018, the CLOUD Act.
It obligates companies with US headquarters or US subsidiaries to hand over customer data to authorities on request. Not when convenient. Always when demanded. Regardless of where the data is physically stored.
A data centre in Frankfurt with a US operator is still subject to US law. That is not a theory — it is statute.
Three Concrete Steps for Your Business
Step 1: Inventory. Which services do you use daily? Accounting, document storage, email, CRM, project management? Where is the server? Who owns the parent company? These questions cost nothing — and deliver immediate clarity.
Step 2: Risk assessment. Not every cloud dependency carries equal risk. Customer data, health records, financial data — these are the areas where a US authority request would have consequences. Marketing analytics: lower priority. Focus where it matters.
Step 3: Planned migration. Migration does not mean switching everything off tomorrow. It means having a plan. Self-hosted alternatives for document management, process automation and communication exist today — technically mature, GDPR-native, and more affordable than most assume.
What Comes Next
September 2026: EU Data Act — Data by Design becomes mandatory for connected products. January 2027: BSI Grundschutz++ certification goes live. NIS2 has been in effect since October 2024.
The regulatory wave moves slowly. But it does not stop.
Your next step
Want to know which of your systems are genuinely at risk? We look together — no pressure, no commitment.
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