Six disputes emerge in EU’s CADA cloud and AI proposal

Responses to the European Commission’s Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) broadly support its aims of expanding Europe’s cloud and AI capacity, but differ over how the proposed rules would work. Techtidningen reviewed 55 documents published as consultation responses on the Swedish government’s website. Sweden’s consultation period ended on 2 October.

The proposal would ease data-center establishment, support AI development and set new public-procurement requirements. It also introduces four trust levels for cloud services, based partly on who controls a service, where its data and infrastructure are located, and protection against risks linked to countries outside the EU.

Swedish provider Elastx supports the proposal in broad terms and says ownership and control should be central criteria. The National Board of Trade Sweden, Kommerskollegium, backs increased capacity and reduced dependencies, but opposes the sovereignty framework and geographic criteria in their current form, saying the Commission has not sufficiently shown why the requirements are necessary.

Sweden’s National Agency for Public Procurement opposes requiring public buyers to favor European options, warning of higher prices and lower quality. The proposal includes exceptions, including when suitable recognized cloud services are unavailable or costs are disproportionate; it is not a blanket ban on providers outside the EU.

Under Article 29.6, a switch required after a risk assessment would have to happen within a reasonable transition period of no more than 12 months. Swedish Customs says procurement, technical changes, data transfers, security assessments and implementation may not fit that limit. It wants longer transitions in justified cases. Other respondents raise concerns about migration costs, existing contracts, operational continuity and national-security discretion.