Europe wants independence from Big Tech. So why's it copying Silicon Valley's playbook?

The European Commission just dropped its digital sovereignty strategy, and honestly? It's underwhelming. Sure, Brussels is finally acknowledging the problem — that Americans control the tools Europeans use every day. But the solutions feel like they're missing the point entirely.

Take Beti Hohler. She's a Slovenian judge living in the Netherlands who uses Apple's app store, has an Amazon account, books Airbnb stays, pays with Visa. Normal stuff. Then last year, the Trump administration sanctioned her for her work at the international criminal court. Overnight, it all disappeared. Her credit cards. Her accounts. Everything wiped because US companies had to comply with US law. She described it as living in constant uncertainty.

That's the real issue. It's not that Europe wants to build rival tech giants — it's that relying entirely on American infrastructure leaves Europeans vulnerable to American decisions. One political move, one sanctions list, and you're locked out of your own money, your accounts, your digital life.

But Europe's response? It's basically trying to build American companies on European soil. Invest more in startups. Create European alternatives. Speed up regulations so homegrown tech can compete. The thinking goes: if we just have enough European Googles and Facebooks, we'll be fine.

Here's the catch: that doesn't solve the sovereignty problem. It just shifts the dominance around. You're still stuck in a system where a handful of companies — European or American — control access to everything. You're still vulnerable to whoever holds the power, whether it's based in Mountain View or Munich.

Real digital sovereignty would mean something else. It'd mean breaking up the idea that a few private companies should gatekeep everyone's access to payment systems, communication, commerce. It'd mean building infrastructure that's genuinely decentralized, where no single actor — corporate or governmental — can flip a switch and lock you out.

Europe's playing catch-up with America's rulebook instead of rewriting it. And that's the real disappointment here.