🇳🇱 5. Netherlands – Parliament Pushes for a National Cloud
In a landmark vote in March 2025, the Dutch Parliament approved funding for a sovereign “National Cloud” infrastructure and began rolling back use of Microsoft 365 and AWS inside key ministries.
This proactive stance was driven by both data protection concerns and a desire to strengthen cloud computing security with full public control. By supporting EU-hosted and open-source platforms, the Netherlands is setting a new standard for national cloud architecture.
On 18 March 2025 the Tweede Kamer adopted a trio of motions that could reshape Dutch ICT for a generation. The texts instruct the cabinet to halt further migrations to US hyperscalers, launch a tender for a wholly Dutch-managed national cloud and repatriate the .nl registry from Amazon to state-controlled servers. The trigger: a damning Court-of-Audit report showing that ministries used 1 588 cloud services—86 percent hosted abroad—without adequate risk assessment. Lawmakers cited the US CLOUD Act and rising geopolitical friction as existential threats to Dutch autonomy. Within weeks, the Ministry of Digital Affairs assembled a task-force of SURF, SIDN and TNO experts to draft architecture guidelines. Early drafts propose Kubernetes clusters running on EU-produced chips, a sovereign key-management service and mandatory publication of Terraform modules under EUPL, echoing Estonia’s policy. Critics fear costs, yet back-of-envelope calculations suggest licence savings of €45 million annually once Microsoft 365 seats are reduced by half. More important for SEO savvy: the debate has mainstreamed cloud computing security in Dutch media, with editors explaining encryption escrow, data-residency zones and exit strategies—concepts once confined to specialist blogs. By mid-2025 the government is expected to table a budget amendment earmarking €300 million for the pilot, signalling that “Going Dutch” in the cloud is more than political theatre.
