In a reflective conversation with Capital, Costas Lucas, Microsoft’s Regional Manager for Public Sector for Southern Europe, invites a more nuanced understanding of Europe’s drive for digital sovereignty. While the ambition itself is justified, he argues, the real challenge lies in how sovereignty is defined – and practiced.
Rather than equating sovereignty with technological separation, Lucas positions it as a question of control and resilience. For governments, this means retaining legal authority and operational autonomy over digital systems, while still remaining connected to global innovation ecosystems that fuel progress and security.
This thinking underpins Microsoft’s approach to sovereign choice. Rather than drawing rigid boundaries, Microsoft focuses on practical safeguards. Data stays in Europe. Customers control their encryption keys. Operations and teams are based in the EU. Strong contracts guarantee service continuity. Initiatives such as the Microsoft Sovereign Cloud and the European Digital Commitments translate these principles into action, aligning advanced technology with European law, governance requirements, and long‑term infrastructure needs.
From his discussions with policymakers across Europe, Lucas observes a distinctly pragmatic tone. Governments are asking harder questions about dependency and continuity, while recognizing that critical infrastructure cannot be modernized in isolation. What they ultimately seek, he notes, is “demonstrable control: legal clarity, operational autonomy and reliable guarantees of continuity.”
Curious how European governments are navigating the balance between sovereignty, resilience, and collaboration in an increasingly interconnected digital world?
Explore the full interview to see how this debate is evolving in practice: Костас Лукас, Microsoft: Внезапно и цялостно технологично откъсване е малко вероятно
Top image: Costas Lucas is Microsoft’s Regional Manager for Public Sector for Southern Europe, responsible for working with and negotiating with governments that adopt Microsoft technologies, and he holds degrees from the National University of Athens, the London School of Economics and INSEAD. In this interview, he discusses Europe’s approach to digital sovereignty, arguing that it should focus on enforceable control, resilience and continuity—rather than isolation—while remaining connected to global innovation. Image courtesy of Microsoft.