The European Parliament is swapping Google for Qwant as its default search engine in a small but pointed sovereignty flex.
According to Politico Qwant will become the default search tool on European Parliament computers on 4 June 2026.
The change is being made “in line with the Parliament’s commitment to digital sovereignty and the protection of users’ personal data.”
That means Brussels has found another way to poke the US tech giants by pretending it is just changing a browser setting. The move lands as the European Commission prepares its long-awaited tech sovereignty package.
That package is aimed at reducing dependence on foreign technology providers and giving European alternatives a rare moment in the sun. The email described Qwant as a “privacy-focused European search engine” designed to avoid tracking users or collecting personal data.
Founded in 2013, Qwant has spent years marketing itself as the privacy-first French alternative to Google. Searches made through the address bar in Firefox and Edge will be routed through Qwant by default.
Lawmakers will still be free to use rival search engines or fiddle with their default settings, so nobody is being marched to an appointment with Madam Guillotine.
The switch follows months of pressure from lawmakers who want EU institutions to depend less on Yankee tech.
In November 2025, a cross-party group of 38 members wrote to European Parliament president Roberta Metsola. They urged the institution to phase out Microsoft software and other foreign-made tech, arguing that dependence on a few US giants had become a strategic weakness.
For Qwant, this is a useful win, giving it default status inside one of Europe’s loudest temples of regulation. For Google, it is hardly fatal, but it is another reminder that Brussels is no longer happy merely wagging its finger from the sidelines.
