The EU has made a significant change to its cybersecurity certification scheme by dropping its sovereignty requirements. This move will allow non-EU companies, including tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, to bid for EU cloud computing contracts more easily. Despite facing antitrust investigations in various countries, these companies can now participate in EU projects.
According to Reuters, draft cybersecurity labelling rules no longer mandate that vendors be independent from non-EU laws. This change aims to make it simpler for companies to navigate the certification process.
The scheme was initially designed to help governments and companies in the EU choose secure and trustworthy vendors. However, companies outside the EU had already started forming partnerships within the Union to bypass the previous restrictions.
The decision comes as tech giants show interest in government contracts, but the EU remains cautious about potential illegal surveillance. Concerns also persist about the dominance of US cloud companies hindering EU competitors. The recent change now only requires cloud vendors to disclose information about data storage and processing locations.
TechRadar Pro reached out to the European Commission for confirmation but has not received a response yet. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.