> You're comparing companies of widely varying size
OVHCloud is not AWS size, but it is still a large company that generates over $1B in revenue. Yet is has almost no dev or product leadership presence outside of France or the US. Same with Scaleway, which is a division of Iliad SA - one of the largest telcos in France and founded by one of Macron's largest backers who is also the son-in-law of Bernard Arnault of LVMH (and the reason why every country negotiating with the EU puts tariffs on Congac and Champagne), who has pushed Macron to dump ministers and even his PM.
> it is pretty commonplace for European companies with enough activity across Europe to have offices around and to quite freely move/open offices in other countries.
Both OVHCloud and Scaleway have been around since 1999, yet haven't ever expanded their core engineering or product responsibilities outside France or the US.
Meanwhile, AWS, GCP, Microsoft, and hundreds of American tech companies and startups have all given core product leadership responsibilities to their offices across Central and Eastern Europe.
Even small (compared to OVHCloud) American startups like (randomly picking 2 ik of) Cyberhaven and Snyk have opened offices in Romania and Poland that own product and engineering decisions plus roadmap.
> So I don't really see this point as a good one.
It is a major point because it is French (and German) businesses that are lobbying for a combative position at the expense of other EU member states.
Why should Ireland, Czechia, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria suffer a severe capital outflow and retaliation from the US to help French companies that have keep jobs (and thus income and corporate tax revenue) within France and overwhelmingly benefit French (and German) capital owners?
And like I said before, this is why no unified European grand strategy ever develops - inevitably individual European nations undercut each other to protect their domestic industries.
At least Czechia, Poland, and Romania have helped burden-share via their contributions to Ukraine, which outshine those France has provided on a per capita basis, despite being much poorer countries than France.
> Both OVHCloud and Scaleway have been around since 1999, yet haven't ever expanded their core engineering or product responsibilities outside France or the US.
Because their business hasn't significantly expanded outside of France, much like e.g. Hetzner hasn't significantly moved out of Germany? You should look at the gorilla in the room here.
> Cyberhaven
A company founded by Romanians and Ukrainians. Not surprising they have offices there. You should wonder why they became an american tech company.
On a more general note, this "What has Europe ever done for us/the US are our best friends" stance may be good as a bargaining stance when discussing among EU nations, but people have started believing it, and it's the bane of any serious discussion.
OVHCloud is not AWS size, but it is still a large company that generates over $1B in revenue. Yet is has almost no dev or product leadership presence outside of France or the US. Same with Scaleway, which is a division of Iliad SA - one of the largest telcos in France and founded by one of Macron's largest backers who is also the son-in-law of Bernard Arnault of LVMH (and the reason why every country negotiating with the EU puts tariffs on Congac and Champagne), who has pushed Macron to dump ministers and even his PM.
> it is pretty commonplace for European companies with enough activity across Europe to have offices around and to quite freely move/open offices in other countries.
Both OVHCloud and Scaleway have been around since 1999, yet haven't ever expanded their core engineering or product responsibilities outside France or the US.
Meanwhile, AWS, GCP, Microsoft, and hundreds of American tech companies and startups have all given core product leadership responsibilities to their offices across Central and Eastern Europe.
Even small (compared to OVHCloud) American startups like (randomly picking 2 ik of) Cyberhaven and Snyk have opened offices in Romania and Poland that own product and engineering decisions plus roadmap.
> So I don't really see this point as a good one.
It is a major point because it is French (and German) businesses that are lobbying for a combative position at the expense of other EU member states.
Why should Ireland, Czechia, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria suffer a severe capital outflow and retaliation from the US to help French companies that have keep jobs (and thus income and corporate tax revenue) within France and overwhelmingly benefit French (and German) capital owners?
And like I said before, this is why no unified European grand strategy ever develops - inevitably individual European nations undercut each other to protect their domestic industries.
At least Czechia, Poland, and Romania have helped burden-share via their contributions to Ukraine, which outshine those France has provided on a per capita basis, despite being much poorer countries than France.