Amazon Web Services has announced the general availability of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a new cloud environment designed to meet the European Union’s most stringent digital sovereignty requirements.
The new cloud is fully located within the EU and is physically and logically separate from other AWS Regions.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud launches with its first AWS Region in Brandenburg, Germany and will expand across Europe with new sovereign AWS Local Zones planned for Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. The expansion is intended to support in-country data residency, strict data isolation and low latency needs for governments and regulated industries.
Amazon said it plans to invest more than €7.8 billion in Germany to support the sovereign cloud, backing an average of 2,800 full-time equivalent jobs annually and contributing an estimated €17.2 billion to Germany’s GDP. Additional investments are planned as the footprint expands to other EU countries.
AWS said the European Sovereign Cloud is operated entirely by EU-based staff with no operational control outside EU borders. All customer data and metadata including identity management, billing and usage metering remain within the EU. The platform uses the AWS Nitro System and advanced encryption to enforce strict security controls.
Stéphane Israël, Managing Director, AWS European Sovereign Cloud, said the initiative gives European customers access to advanced cloud and AI services while maintaining full control over sensitive data.
The platform will initially offer more than 90 AWS services and has already been adopted by public sector and regulated industry customers across Europe.
