The bloc’s lawmakers have reportedly chosen Qwant, previously owned by Axel Springer, to cut back digital dependence on the US
The European Parliament is ready to interchange Google with a Franco-German-backed search engine because the default software on in-house computer systems, Politico reported Tuesday citing an inside memo.
The rollout of Qwant, beforehand owned by German media large Axel Springer, comes because the European Union reportedly seeks to cut back its dependence on US tech.
Amazon, Microsoft and Google account for greater than two-thirds of the worldwide cloud computing market, whereas American corporations are dominating the so-called AI race.
Google is being changed with “privacy-focused European search engine” Qwant, launched by a French developer in 2013, beginning June 4, the doc seen by Politico reads.
Affecting some 720 lawmakers and hundreds of administrative employees, the change is reportedly being performed “according to the Parliament’s dedication to digital sovereignty and the safety of customers’ private knowledge.”
The software, privately owned by Qwant SAS, a subsidiary of French cloud know-how group Synfonium, is reportedly designed to keep away from monitoring customers or gathering private knowledge. Searches performed via the tackle bar in Firefox and Edge browsers are robotically routed via Qwant, the information outlet famous, including that lawmakers will stay free to make use of competing search engines like google or change their default settings.
The search-engine change comes because the European Fee unveiled a tech sovereignty package deal on Wednesday geared toward decreasing reliance on overseas know-how suppliers and strengthening European alternate options.
Whereas dependence on American digital infrastructure stays a legit world concern, critics argue that Brussels’ response more and more resembles digital protectionism. Supporters describe it as technological sovereignty, whereas opponents warn it might fragment the worldwide web, weaken competitors by favoring native suppliers, and create a digital ecosystem ruled by Brussels’ personal requirements for content material moderation, AI governance, and disinformation.
Critics cite the EU’s Digital Companies Act (DSA), which got here into pressure in late 2022, as proof of Brussels’ rising affect over on-line discourse, arguing that measures geared toward combating disinformation have additionally expanded its means to form political debate inside member states. They warn that such insurance policies, alongside efforts to advertise European digital alternate options, danger concentrating management over info flows.
Broader efforts to develop EU alternate options to main US social media platforms embody Eurosky and W. Eurosky, a Netherlands-based initiative designed as a European various to platforms similar to X and Meta, was formally launched earlier this yr.
W, a Europe-focused social community that reportedly emphasizes verified identities and compliance with EU knowledge safety guidelines, was developed by Swedish firm W Social and unveiled in early 2026. Following a restricted beta launch in February, the platform is anticipated to roll out to the general public within the Netherlands and throughout the EU by the tip of the yr.
Earlier this yr, France introduced plans to interchange US videoconferencing platforms similar to Groups and Zoom with the homegrown Visio app by 2027. In the meantime, the European Funds Initiative is urging EU authorities to cut back the bloc’s reliance on Visa and Mastercard.
