Ask Me Something Hard: Why Three Fifths of Europe's Sovereignty Score Cannot Tell Suppliers Apart¶

Stéfane Fermigier

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Abstract¶

A sovereignty score exists to tell a public buyer whether a supplier offering a European service is beyond the reach of a foreign state or a subsidiary presenting the appearance of one. One test, applied to every criterion of eighteen deployed instruments: can a foreign-controlled supplier answer this as cheaply as a European one, and can verification reach the difference? Three fifths of the Commission's weighted SEAL score sits on criteria that cannot separate the two; the five criteria the field asks most all fail; the calculator neutralises the ownership questions with the most separating power; and eleven of the twenty-two criteria that pass need no declaration from the supplier. Three recommendations to the co-legislators on the Cloud and AI Development Act.

What the questions of the Commission's sovereignty assessment can do, as shares of the weighted score: two fifths separate a genuine supplier from a controlled one.

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Fermigier, S. (2026). Ask Me Something Hard: Why Three Fifths of Europe's Sovereignty Score Cannot Tell Suppliers Apart.
Policy paper, Abilian Econ Lab.
https://econ.lab.abilian.com/papers/ask-me-something-hard/