EU weighs tighter rules for Starlink, Amazon and cloud giants

Brussels is weighing two decisions that could redraw who controls Europe’s digital backbone: a mobile satellite spectrum compromise that would leave room for Starlink and Amazon’s low-earth-orbit service, and a cloud-contracts ruling that could curb the reach of U.S. giants already dominant in the market.

The spectrum plan under discussion would reserve roughly two-thirds of the frequencies for European companies, while still allowing some access for Starlink and Amazon’s satellite business, Leo, next year. That matters far beyond the satellite sector. Mobile connectivity in remote areas, government communications, transport networks and emergency services all depend on who gets access to scarce radio frequencies and on what terms.

The cloud fight is even broader. A separate EU cloud-tenders decision is scheduled for June 3, and it lands in a market where Amazon, Google and Microsoft together hold about 63% globally. If Brussels tightens procurement rules, the effects would reach European public administrations, large enterprises and the data-centre industry, which still leans heavily on foreign providers for storage, computing and artificial intelligence capacity. If it backs off, critics warn, the bloc risks locking in dependence that would be difficult to unwind later.

That debate is feeding into the Cloud and AI Development Act, which the European Commission says will be aimed at at least tripling EU data-centre capacity within five to seven years and meeting the needs of EU businesses and public administrations by 2035. The European Parliament’s legislative-train schedule shows how the file has slipped, with the Commission initially planning a proposal for the first quarter of 2026 before updating it to the second quarter. A Commission consultation on the initiative opened on April 9, 2025 and closed on July 3, 2025.

The sovereignty push is already showing up in procurement. On April 17, 2026, the Commission awarded four contracts in a cloud tender and said it was acting to diversify suppliers and avoid lock-in by a single provider. Yet the legal framework remains unsettled. A European Parliament briefing says member states still have not agreed on requirements for a sovereign-cloud certification scheme under EU cybersecurity rules, leaving highly secure EU-based cloud and AI offers without clear legal certainty.

The stakes are geopolitical as much as commercial. Supporters of a harder line argue that Europe must strengthen its own firms as China’s technology rise accelerates and transatlantic ties look less predictable. Opponents fear retaliation from Washington and doubt Europe can replace the scale, capital and engineering depth of the companies it would be pushing aside. The Commission’s 2026 work programme, titled Europe’s independence moment, makes clear that the choice is not just about industrial policy. It is about who sets the rules for critical infrastructure, and how much leverage democracies are willing to leave in the hands of a few global platforms.