Microsoft has unveiled a bold new strategy to support Europe’s digital transformation through a set of five strategic commitments centred on infrastructure, resilience, data protection, cybersecurity, and economic competitiveness.
At the heart of this initiative is a multi-billion euro investment that will significantly expand Microsoft’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure across 16 European countries.
The announcement was made by Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President, during a keynote address in Brussels, marking a new chapter in Microsoft’s longstanding collaboration with European institutions, businesses, and communities.
The centrepiece of the initiative is Microsoft’s plan to increase its data centre capacity in Europe by 40% over the next two years. This expansion includes more than 200 new data centre projects in 16 countries by 2027. The investment is monumental—not just in scale, but in what it represents: a strong vote of confidence in Europe’s digital future.
“This is more than just building data centres,” said Brad Smith. “It’s about ensuring that Europe has the digital infrastructure it needs to lead in the age of AI, while maintaining sovereignty and trust,” he said.
In addition to infrastructure, Microsoft committed to four further pillars of action.
With regards to digital resilience, Microsoft has pledged to resist unlawful data access requests, challenge government orders that threaten service continuity, and physically separate critical code for European services, including hosting it in secure facilities in Switzerland.
In terms of data privacy, the company reaffirmed its EU Data Boundary initiative, ensuring that customers’ data remains within EU borders in compliance with European data protection regulations. Microsoft also pledged to bolster Europe’s cyber defences through threat intelligence sharing, technical cooperation with governments, and investments in secure cloud platforms and to continue supporting open-source ecosystems, upskilling programs, and collaborations with local tech communities to strengthen Europe’s innovation pipeline.
These commitments build on years of engagement and investment in Europe and reflect Microsoft’s strategic vision to support the EU’s digital decade ambitions with trust, security, and innovation at its core.