No More Zoom and Teams?!
France has ordered millions of workers to switch from foreign-owned tech platforms like Zoom and Teams to Visio - a domestically developed videoconference platform.
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France has ordered millions of workers to switch from foreign-owned tech platforms like Zoom and Teams to Visio - a domestically developed videoconference platform. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, explains how this move is important to guaranteeing the security and confidentiality of public communications.
Similarly, the French government has blocked the satellite operator - Eutelsat - from selling its antenna business to the private equity firm EQT. The government cites the business’s strategic importance as a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink - a satellite operated telecommunications provider.
The Implications
The EU currently relies on non-EU countries - like the US - for over 80% of its digital services. Trump’s policy decisions, especially those hostile to the EU, have incited European fears over a dependence on the US during times of geopolitical tension.
As such, European governments are seeking to reduce dependency on US tech platforms, a movement which France is leading the charge on. Even President Macron has been promoting local cloud providers and AI companies as a shield against US and Chinese dominance in these spaces.
What does this mean for technology?
- Increased regulatory barriers for US tech companies in Europe
- Growing government investment in European tech alternatives
- Potentially hostile policy decisions like tariffs on technology as a response from non-EU countries
How to use this in applications
Law firms might have to advise the displaced US tech companies like Zoom and Microsoft on challenging this decision on discrimination grounds, or alternatively on the regulatory strategies required for the US tech companies to remain in the European market.
In terms of the European tech companies, law firms will have to advise these firms on minimising legal challenges under EU’s competition law regime, and on tricky foreign investment arrangements like the Eutelsat transaction which was blocked.
And in terms of the government’s backing of European tech companies, law firms will have to advise on partnership structures with government-backed initiatives, ensuring commercially sensible terms. This will involve matters like intellectual property ownership, data protection, and cybersecurity.
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