The DMA Meets the Cloud: Experts Discuss Europe’s Digital Future

The event took place at IE Tower in Madrid and focused on a central question: how to strike the right balance between competition, security, and sovereignty in the cloud sector, while ensuring that regulation keeps pace with rapidly evolving markets.

Participants exchanged views on the implications of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for cloud services and examined broader strategic challenges linked to Europe’s digital transformation.

Key takeaways

Regulatory fit and coherence
Participants reflected on the potential misalignment between the DMA’s current design and the economic realities of cloud markets. The discussion explored possible regulatory scenarios and highlighted the complexity of ensuring coherence across overlapping regulatory frameworks.

Resilience, sovereignty, and security
Beyond competition concerns, the conversation underscored Europe’s exposure to geopolitical and legal risks. Experts emphasized the need for greater preparedness, the development of credible internal capabilities, and the importance of fostering alternative infrastructures to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy.

Market evolution and technological transformation
The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence, the entry of new cloud providers, and the development of local solutions are reshaping the competitive landscape. At the same time, participants noted that premature regulatory intervention could risk misalignment, suggesting that more flexible or voluntary approaches may be better suited to fast-moving technological change.

The working breakfast brought together representatives from government, regulatory bodies, academia, and industry, including the Presidency of the Government; the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business; the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service; the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC); and the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).

The session opened with an introductory presentation by IE University Professor Laura Zoboli and was supported by Microsoft as a strategic partner.

This event reflects the ongoing commitment of the Center for the Governance of Change to fostering informed, forward-looking dialogue on the key policy and governance challenges shaping Europe’s digital future.