Belgium ranks 23rd out of 27. Too much dependence on the United States
The main official government websites of Lithuania, Malta, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands remain heavily dependent on U.S. infrastructure.
“A Continent at a Crossroads,” as the creators of the EDIX Index 2026—the European Digital Resilience Index—put it. Essential public services in countries such as France, Sweden, and Denmark depend on infrastructure controlled by the United States, while the messaging services of public administrations in a dozen member states, including Belgium and Italy, are managed by U.S. providers, thereby exposing sensitive public data to foreign jurisdictions and compromising the very sovereignty that our policymakers claim to protect.
Austria ranks first with an EDRIX score of 7.43 out of 10, narrowly ahead of Germany (7.28). The rankings are close: Finland (7.13), Slovenia (6.60), and Estonia (6.53) follow, with the top five countries separated by just one point.
Specifically, the main official government websites of Lithuania, Malta, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands remain heavily dependent on U.S. infrastructure, with Malta and Lithuania ranking at the bottom of the public sector rankings (0.00 and 1.11 out of 10, respectively). With a score of 3.79 out of 10, Belgium ranks 23rd out of 27! The resilience of the public sector (4.44) is slightly better than that of the private sector (4.37).
Building a “EuroStack” that is resilient and sovereign
EDRIX looks beyond communication and political decisions to examine the results—or lack thereof—of implemented policies, where they exist. It is a practical tool designed to highlight these structural weaknesses, guide the industrial policy now needed to build a “EuroStack” that is resilient and sovereign, and measure its impact.
EDRIX’s findings reveal a reality that gives pause for thought. First, the economic imperative of an annual outflow of 264 billion euros to the U.S. technology sector. Second, the geopolitical urgency in the wake of the collapse of the former transatlantic alliance, which has transformed Europe’s digital dependence into a critical strategic failure.
Dependence or Allegiance?
When it comes to public sector resilience, Austria, Croatia, Romania, and Slovenia lead the way. In these four countries, all government domains, heads of state, and capital cities studied are hosted on European infrastructure and operated by an EU provider. The other 23 member states all have at least one of these three domains hosted on non-European infrastructure!
Some situations border on the paradoxical. For example, the Netherlands has the highest density of developers per capita in the EU and, at the same time, one of the lowest private-sector hosting scores (4.03).
Among the high-traffic .nl domains measured, 54% are hosted by U.S. providers! Another case highlighted is Ireland. The country ranks among the top European nations in terms of developer density but has a score of zero for private-sector resilience.
