Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the general availability of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a new, independent cloud for Europe entirely located within the EU, and physically and logically separate from other AWS Regions. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud’s unique approach provides the only fully featured, independently operated sovereign cloud backed by strong technical controls, sovereign assurances, and legal protections designed to meet the needs of European governments and enterprises for sensitive data. AWS also announced plans to extend the AWS European Sovereign Cloud footprint from Germany across the EU to support stringent isolation, in-country data residency, and low latency requirements. This will start with new sovereign AWS Local Zones located in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
From day one, AWS’s global cloud and AI infrastructure have been sovereign-by-design and provide customers with complete control over the location and movement of their data. This is supported by a range of technical measures and operational controls that provide transparency and assurance, and AWS’s global infrastructure that provides exceptionally high resilience, security and availability.
AWS is built to meet the needs of the most security- and data privacy-conscious organisations in the world, and most customers are able to meet their requirements using one of the six existing AWS Regions in the EU, which are sovereign-by-design. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is designed to give customers additional choice to meet the EU’s stringent sovereignty requirements without compromising on the robust capabilities of AWS.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud, and the expansion of AWS Local Zones to three additional countries, will provide organisations with further options to deploy workloads in the cloud with the highest level of sovereignty and operational independence while maintaining the breadth of AWS services they rely on to innovate and transform their organisations. AWS Local Zones are a type of infrastructure that allow customers to store their data in a specific geographic location to meet data residency requirements or run latency sensitive applications.
The AWS Local Zones announced today will be part of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, extending the sovereignty controls from the AWS Region in Germany across the EU. Customers who have more stringent data isolation or data residency requirements will have the option to use AWS Dedicated Local Zones, AWS AI Factories or AWS Outposts in locations they select, including their own on-premises data centres.
“Europe needs access to the most robust cloud and AI technology. The expansion of AWS innovation across Europe will help supercharge customers’ growth and AI ambitions,” said Stéphane Israël, managing director of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud and digital sovereignty. “Customers want the best of both worlds – they want to be able to use AWS’s full portfolio of cloud and AI services while ensuring they can meet their stringent sovereignty requirements. By building a cloud that is European in its infrastructure, operations, and governance, we’re empowering organisations to innovate with confidence while maintaining complete control over their digital assets.”
Managed, operated, and secured in Europe
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud combines comprehensive, layered controls to provide a robust solution for customers who need to meet strict digital sovereignty requirements while ensuring they still benefit from the breadth of AWS cloud and AI innovation. Everything needed to operate the AWS European Sovereign Cloud is in the EU: the talent, the infrastructure, and the leadership. There is zero operational control outside of EU borders.
Key capabilities include:
European operational autonomy: The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is physically and logically separate from other AWS Regions. It is operated exclusively by EU residents, has no critical dependencies on non-EU infrastructure, and its unique design enables it to continue operations indefinitely, even in the event of a communications disruption with the rest of the world. To support continuity even under extreme circumstances, authorised AWS employees of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, who are EU residents, will have independent access to a replica of the source code needed to maintain the AWS European Sovereign Cloud services.
Complete data residency: The AWS European Sovereign Cloud provides customers with full control over where their data is stored. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud allows customers to keep all metadata they create (such as the roles, permissions, resource labels, and configurations) entirely in the EU, including sovereign Identity and Access Management (IAM), billing, and usage metering systems.
Leading technical and compliance controls: Security is foundational to digital sovereignty, and like other AWS Regions, the AWS European Sovereign Cloud is powered by the AWS Nitro System, which provides industry-leading, strong physical and logical security boundary to enforce access restrictions so that nobody, including AWS employees, can access customer data running in Amazon EC2. AWS also provides advanced encryption, key management services, and hardware security modules that customers can use to further protect their content. Encrypted content is rendered useless without the applicable decryption keys. AWS has also introduced the AWS European Sovereign Cloud: Sovereignty Reference Framework (ESC-SRF), an independently validated framework to meet customers’ sovereignty requirements. Customers can use the third-party validated ESC-SRF auditor report to demonstrate clear and enforceable sovereignty assurances.
European governance: AWS has established a dedicated governance structure in Europe, with a new parent company and three local subsidiaries incorporated in Germany (GmbH), led by EU citizens who are obligated to abide by European laws, and to act in the best interest of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. It also includes an advisory board, which will provide expertise and accountability on sovereignty-related matters and is made up of three Amazon employees and two independent board members, all European citizens and residents.
Today, AWS announced that Stefan Hoechbauer, vice president of AWS Global Sales Germany and Europe Central, has been appointed as a managing director of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. He will work closely with Stéphane Israël, who will lead the AWS European Sovereign Cloud and be responsible for management and operations. AWS also announced five new members of the advisory board: three Amazon employees—Stéphane Ducable, vice president of EMEA Public Policy at AWS; Ian McGarry, director of Amazon CloudWatch; and Barbara Scarafia, vice president and associate general counsel Europe at Amazon—and two independent board members, General (Ret.) Philippe Lavigne and Sinéad McSweeney. General (Ret.) Philippe Lavigne most recently served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. McSweeney currently serves on a variety of boards and was previously vice president of Public Policy at Twitter.
Investment in European innovation and digital capabilities
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud has launched its first AWS Region in Brandenburg, Germany. As part of its long-term commitment, Amazon plans to invest more than €7.8 billionin the AWS European Sovereign Cloud in Germany and support an average of 2,800 full-time equivalent jobs annually, adding approximately €17.2 billion to Germany’s GDP.
The expansion of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal represents an additional planned investment in new cutting-edge cloud and AI capabilities that will help support local economic growth, productivity, and innovation. By bringing AWS’s cloud capabilities closer to customers, AWS is giving organisations the tools they need to drive their digital transformation, while meeting stringent data residency and low-latency requirements.
Customers and partners using the AWS European Sovereign Cloud will benefit from the full power of AWS including the same security, availability, performance, familiar architecture, APIs, and leading security innovations such as the AWS Nitro System. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud will initially feature more than 90 services across a range of categories, including artificial intelligence, compute, containers, database, networking, security, and storage.
Customers from the public sector and a wide variety of regulated industries across Europe have already chosen the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. This includes EWE AG, Medizinische Universität Lausitz – Carl Thiem (MUL-CT), Sanoma Learning, and more.
AWS Partners are committed to providing their solutions for and within the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Launch partners include: Accenture, adesso, Adobe, Arvato Systems, Atos, Capgemini, Dedalus, Deloitte, Genysys, Kyndryl, Mistral AI, msg group, NVIDIA, SAP, SoftwareOne, and many more.
European customers across various regulated industries, including government, healthcare, financial services, defence and aerospace, energy, telecommunications, and more, can now use the AWS European Sovereign Cloud to accelerate their innovation while adhering to their strict compliance and data sovereignty requirements. For more information about the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, visit aws.eu.
Customers, partners, and policymakers welcome the launch of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud
“The AWS European Sovereign Cloud not only strengthens Germany’s role as a location for digital infrastructure in Europe – it also demonstrates our country’s attractiveness for investments in cutting-edge technologies. Global expertise is combined with European data protection and security standards. This brings us one step closer to our goal of a strong and capable digital hub – for secure data, strong companies, and a self-determined digital future.”
— Dr. Karsten Wildberger, Federal Minister for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, Germany
“The aim of our High-Tech Agenda Germany is to turn our country into a global leader for new technology. For this to succeed, joint implementation with partners – especially those from industry – is essential. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is a strong example of this. The project shows that Germany is already an attractive location for businesses today. Artificial intelligence is one of the key technologies included in the High-Tech Agenda Germany. The ability to use it effectively will determine how autonomously we can live our lives in the future. It is important to maintain EU protection standards, also for high-performance cloud services. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud will help stimulate growth and value creation for Germany.”
— Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space, Germany
“To keep pace with digital innovations while enabling digital sovereignty, BSI is pursuing a dual strategy. First of all, the European market and its digital industry must be strengthened. Secondly, non-European products must be adapted and integrated to ensure they can be used securely and independently. Achieving this objective in cloud computing means that services need to be offered on a European instance which is operated separately, technically as well as organisationally. The future of hyperscalers in Europe therefore lies in offerings such as the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. As Germany’s cybersecurity authority, we are pleased to be able to contribute to its design. We will closely monitor the implementation of the security and sovereignty features.”
— Claudia Plattner, President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Germany
“Whether in education, healthcare, public administration, or industry – digital applications play a key role in ensuring the future viability in almost all areas of life. This requires modern, high-performance infrastructure that enables data processing and digitisation, supporting compliance with European standards. The launch of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud is another important milestone in strengthening Brandenburg’s position as one of Germany’s leading IT locations.”
— Dr. Dietmar Woidke, Minister-President of Brandenburg, Germany
“We welcome this investment in European digital infrastructure. The expansion of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud to Belgium represents an important step forward for businesses and public sector organisations. This infrastructure will enable our enterprises to fully leverage cloud innovation while ensuring appropriate data residency controls to meet regulatory and operational needs. Belgian organisations will gain greater flexibility in how they store and process data locally, strengthening their competitiveness and supporting the growth of our digital economy.”
— David Clarinval, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Employment, Economy and Agriculture, Belgium
“The launch of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud and the planned AWS Local Zone in Portugal are fully aligned with the goals set out in the Portuguese Digital National Strategy, enabling public administrations and private companies to adopt advanced cloud technologies while maintaining control over data. It also demonstrates the growing attractiveness of our country and of Europe as a whole for high-value digital infrastructure.”
— Gonçalo Matias, Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and of State Reform, Portugal
“The AWS European Sovereign Cloud represents a new evolutionary opportunity for Ukraine to strengthen its digital sovereignty. We are grateful to our partners for opening new options for engaging with cloud technologies. What makes the AWS European Sovereign Cloud unique is independent data governance, robust control mechanisms, a strong focus on the needs of European governments and businesses, and reliable protection of sensitive data.”
— Mykhailo Fedorov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (2019 -2026)
“We welcome Amazon’s multi-billion euro commitment to the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Luxembourg, as home to Amazon’s European headquarters, plays a pivotal role in Europe’s digital transformation and remains dedicated to fostering robust digital infrastructure that drives economic growth and reinforces Europe’s leadership in advanced technology investments.”
— Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism, Luxembourg
“We look forward to the opportunities the AWS European Sovereign Cloud offers to use cutting-edge cloud technology while ensuring high standards of cybersecurity and data protection. It is important that we leverage the power of the cloud as part of our efforts to deliver better, high-quality, secure, inclusive and accessible digital services for Europe.”
— Frank Feighan, Minister for Digitalisation, eGovernment and Public Procurement, Ireland
“This is one example of Amazon’s strategic investments in Europe – whether it is the creation of new highly qualified jobs or the launch of its own European cloud service – the AWS European Sovereign Cloud – which will help companies use state-of-the-art cloud technology and ensure data sovereignty and security in the European Union.”
— Erkki Keldo, Minister of Economy and Industry, Estonia
“Our clients managing highly sensitive workloads in the cloud need choices for how they secure and manage their data, and solutions that enables them to modernise with speed and confidence. AWS European Sovereign Cloud offers organisations in regulated industries additional sovereignty controls coupled with a rich set of services to innovate responsibly. As a launch partner, we are committed to helping our European clients harness this capability to reinvent and unlock new growth opportunities for their organisations.”
— Mauro Capo, Digital Sovereignty Lead for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Accenture
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