The European Commission is setting up a self-hosted version of Element Pro as a backup communications channel, not as a replacement for Microsoft Teams. According to an internal memo, the service will give the EU's executive branch an alternative for internal messaging, audio and video calls, file transfers, and project discussion rooms. Teams remains the principal platform, and the move is best understood as a business-continuity measure.
Some EC users have reacted harshly, calling Element poor and warning that a US government could "instantly win the war" by switching off American technology. The Register's columnist counters that this is precisely the point: if US providers cut off European users by choice or government order, many EU governments and companies would face serious disruption. He cites the case of a Canadian ICC judge who lost access to Amazon and Google services, including her credit cards and Alexa.
The columnist stresses that this is a Commission-level initiative, not an EU-wide mandate to abandon Microsoft. Still, he argues the real fear should be a US kill switch, not the backup software itself. The piece is an opinion column, so it reflects the author's view rather than reporting from inside the Commission, but the underlying facts about the Element deployment come from the cited internal memo and Politico report.