The Wall Street Journal columnist Greg Ip, in his analytical piece, invoked a famous Lenin quote to describe the turbulence at the beginning of 2026: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen." As former President Trump issues stark threats to allies over the Greenland issue, the long-standing bond between the US and Europe, based on shared values, is facing a rupture. Greg Ip analyzes that this effectively represents a "decoupling" between the United States and Europe. According to another Wall Street Journal report, this geopolitical tension has translated into real concerns among European policymakers regarding technological infrastructure. European officials are preparing for a "nightmare scenario": a White House executive order cutting off European businesses' and governments' access to data centers or software they depend on. This shift is accelerating legislative and commercial decisions in Europe. The European Parliament passed a "technological sovereignty" resolution on Thursday, supporting the prioritization of European products in public procurement and proposing new laws to bolster European cloud service providers. Simultaneously, following Trump's re-election, European officials have demanded that some US cloud providers ensure critical sector clients (such as in energy) can easily migrate to local infrastructure during service disruptions. These moves indicate Europe is attempting to reduce its reliance on American technological infrastructure to defend against potential "weaponized" sanctions. Years from now, looking back, Trump's statement at Davos that "the US must acquire Greenland" might be seen as a symbol of the end of the West as a values-based alliance. Previously, the Trump administration threatened to wage a trade war against Europe, and even consider military force, if its demands regarding Danish territory Greenland were not met. Greg Ip notes that although this threat was ultimately withdrawn, it signifies a profound rift in US-Europe relations: Europe still views Russia as the primary threat, whereas the Trump administration shifted its focus to resource control. This crisis of trust has directly led to a defensive pivot in Europe's economic strategy. According to Greg Ip's analysis, if alliances are no longer reliable, economic interdependence becomes a significant geopolitical vulnerability. For investors, this political uncertainty already triggered market turbulence last Tuesday, with stock declines, rising bond yields, and climbing gold prices, signaling that the institutions holding Western economic integration together are loosening. Faced with geopolitical uncertainty, Europe's anxiety in the technology sector has surged dramatically. Analysis by The Wall Street Journal suggests Trump's stance on Greenland has injected new urgency into Europe's long-running debate about reducing its technological dependence on the US. The EU executive is currently drafting new legislation aimed at promoting "technological sovereignty" and has openly discussed the security risks posed by US technology—a topic considered taboo just six months ago. The report cites informed officials stating that the scenario European officials fear most is the US government using administrative measures to disrupt critical services. Bernard Liautaud, Managing Partner at European venture capital firm Balderton Capital, stated that while it's hard to imagine Europe functioning without US technology, once the idea arises, one must begin considering alternatives. The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday supporting the preferential selection of European products in public procurement and proposing legislation to support local European cloud service providers. Nicolas Dufourcq, head of France's state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, was even more direct: "It's too easy to default to American digital technology. This practice must stop." Despite Europe's attempts to seek independence, data from research firm IDC shows that in 2024, European customers spent nearly $25 billion on infrastructure services from the top five US cloud companies, accounting for 83% of the total European market. Giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft hold an absolute dominant position in the European cloud services market. In response to Europe's growing data sovereignty demands and to retain customers, US tech giants have begun taking action. According to sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal, since Trump's re-election, European officials have required some US cloud providers to ensure clients in critical sectors like energy can easily transfer their infrastructure to local suppliers if the US takes action to disrupt services. In response, Microsoft is restructuring its corporate subsidiaries, establishing boards composed entirely of Europeans; Amazon last week launched a "sovereign cloud" service operated by EU citizens and based in Germany; Google has also established joint ventures with local companies in places like France to isolate potential US data access requests. However, Matt Brittin, formerly responsible for Google's European operations, pointed out that what governments truly seek is a degree of control and security, not complete domestic isolation, as they still wish to benefit from the scale effects of global technological cooperation. As France and Germany take an increasingly hardline stance on pushing for "technological independence," the policy environment facing US tech companies is deteriorating. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz co-hosted a digital sovereignty summit with France last November, advocating for looser EU tech rules and increased data center investment. French President Macron has made supporting local companies (like AI developer Mistral AI) a core policy, stating plainly: "We are committed to building European champions. This is a rejection of being a vassal." Currently, Germany's digital ministry is even testing an open-source alternative called openDesk to replace Microsoft's office collaboration tools. For US tech giants and their investors, the stakes in this geopolitical game are extremely high. According to US government data, in 2024, the US exported over $360 billion in digitally delivered services to Europe. Taking Alphabet, Google's parent company, as an example, 29% of its nearly $30 billion revenue in the third quarter came from the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. If Europe's "technological sovereignty" actions shift from rhetoric to substantive market barriers, the valuation logic for US tech stocks could face a reassessment.
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