- AWS launches a superb ‘European Cloud’ offer
- This service will be independent logically and physically
- It will be run exclusively by EU citizens and comply with EU rules
Amazon Web Service (AWS) has announced the launch of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud – an independent cloud, separated both logically and physically and located exclusively within the EU.
To accomplish this, Amazon has created a new parent company with three local subsidiaries – all managed by EU citizens, compliant with European laws and focused on providing full compliance and transparency within cloud services.
This is a big step for AWS users in Europe, as the gap between EU regulations and US laws has become cataclysmic, especially given the strict requirements of GDPR and NIST – as well as the current US administration’s commitment to tech deregulation and stance on AI.
No critical dependencies
Cloud sovereignty has become increasingly important to European companies as US critical infrastructure has dominated the landscape, but regulations have often lagged behind, creating unease around compliance and security.
We predicted that “geopatriation” would be a trend in 2026 for exactly these reasons, and while there are existing regional cloud providers for the EU, the market dominance of companies such as AWS, Microsoft and Google (which together account for over 60% of the global cloud computing market) make them the choice for continuity and convenience.
This new AWS cloud promises complete European operational autonomy. This means it is operated exclusively by EU residents and has ‘no critical dependency on non-EU infrastructure’, as well as being designed to ‘continue operations indefinitely, even in the event of a communication disruption with the rest of the world’.
‘AWS European Sovereign Cloud gives customers full control over where their data is stored.’ Amazon confirms this in a statement.
‘AWS European Sovereign Cloud allows customers to keep all metadata they create (such as roles, permissions, resource labels and configurations) entirely within the EU, including sovereign identity and access management (IAM), billing and usage metering systems.’
The pushback from European firms towards major US technologies is likely to continue as attitudes towards regulation and compliance only seem to grow further apart, but it is likely that we will see more local cloud services built for Europeans as providers look to protect their market share going forward.
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