Government Data Keys in Washington's Hands: French Digital Sovereignty at Risk

A French parliamentary report has sounded the alarm regarding the French administration's near-total dependence on American technology, noting that Washington legally holds the right to access its foreign clients' data, including governments.

According to the magazine "Le Canard Enchaîné," the report was prepared by a joint parliamentary inquiry committee on French digital sovereignty and issued by MPs Philippe Latombe of the Democratic group and Cédric Villani (Cyril Chatelan) of the Ecological Social group.

Ministries in Washington's Hands
The report's conclusion is definitive: most French ministries rely almost entirely on American software and technologies. There are only three exceptions: the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice, and the Gendarmerie (a regular military force responsible for maintaining security).

The other ministries manage their files, data, and communications through systems from American companies.

The report describes this dependency using the same words used to describe major security crises: "These dependencies have become an instrument of threat, just like imported energy resources or customs duties."

American Law Grants Washington Access Rights
According to the magazine, the problem is not limited to technical reliance; the American legal framework makes this dependency a direct strategic threat. American laws grant the federal government the right to compel its tech companies to hand over data belonging to foreign clients—whether governments, companies, or individuals—especially data stored in cloud services.

The figures in the report are shocking: Google received 60,000 requests from US authorities and responded to 89% of them, while Microsoft acts with similar rates.

This means that trade secrets, financial transactions, and personal data passing through these platforms remain within Washington's reach whenever it desires.

€1.5 Billion Annually to America
The economic dimension is no less dangerous. In 2024, French public administrations spent more than €1.5 billion purchasing American software, contributing to the deepening of the French trade deficit, as the magazine explains.

Artificial intelligence also compounds the dilemma, as American companies pump hundreds of billions of dollars annually into this sector, while European companies struggle to match this spending.

The report argues that dominance in artificial intelligence will cement comprehensive dominance over digital data in the future.

Macron Has Spoken Since 2017
Since his election in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron has repeated in almost every speech the necessity of achieving "European digital sovereignty."

After years, the parliamentary report reveals that reality is moving in the exact opposite direction: dependency has increased rather than decreased.

According to the report, the technological gap between Europe and the United States has become "strikingly wide," at a time when the pace of American investment accelerates while the European response slows down.

Nevertheless, the parliamentary report does not offer ready-made solutions, but it clearly identifies the crisis: as long as governments manage their data through systems subject to American law, national sovereignty remains incomplete regardless of official rhetoric.