France Mandates Switch to Domestic Tech for 2.5 Million Civil Servants by 2027

2026-02-03 global

Paris, Wednesday, 4 February 2026.
France is accelerating its push for digital sovereignty, ordering 2.5 million civil servants to replace US platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams with domestic alternatives by 2027. This pivot aims to mitigate data privacy risks and address the estimated €265 billion annual cost of Europe’s technological dependence. As Germany and Austria implement similar measures, this coordinated shift signals potential long-term revenue headwinds for American tech giants within the European public sector.

Strategic Decoupling from Silicon Valley

The French government officially announced on January 26, 2026, that its 2.5 million civil servants must transition away from US-based video conferencing tools—specifically citing Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and GoTo Meeting—by 2027 [1]. The mandated replacement is “Visio,” a sovereign solution intended to secure sensitive state data [1][2]. This directive was reinforced by Civil Service Minister David Amiel, who stated that France “cannot risk having our scientific exchanges, our sensitive data, and our strategic innovations exposed to non-European actors” [1]. As an immediate precursor to this wider rollout, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) is scheduled to replace its Zoom licenses by the end of March 2026 [2].

A Pan-European Shift Towards Open Source

France is not acting in isolation; a broader trend of “digital autonomy” is reshaping the European public sector market. In Germany, the state of Schleswig-Holstein migrated 44,000 employee inboxes from Microsoft to open-source email solutions in 2025, while the Austrian military has switched to LibreOffice to avoid vendor lock-in [1]. The French city of Lyon also began deploying free office software to replace Microsoft products in 2025 [1]. These moves are driven by fears that Silicon Valley giants could be compelled to cut off access due to geopolitical tensions, a concern heightened by recent friction over Greenland [1].

Infrastructure and Corporate Resilience

Beyond software, France is bolstering its physical digital infrastructure. “Campus IA,” a project involving Bpifrance, Mistral AI, and—notably—US chipmaker Nvidia, is developing a massive digital infrastructure campus in Fouju [4]. The French electricity transmission system operator (RTE) has signed an agreement to provide 240 MW of power to the site by late 2027, with plans to scale up to 1,400 MW, positioning it as a key pillar for European AI sovereignty [4].

Sources

Tech Regulation Digital Sovereignty