Amazon Web Services (AWS) has today taken a big step towards catering to Europe’s growing appetite for digital sovereignty, with the official launch of its European Sovereign Cloud.
The independent cloud region, which will become fully operational early next year, is intended to help address the most demanding data resiliency and residency requirements of the European Union (EU) and offer the flexibility that comes with operating data and applications from its own facilities.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is a significant step forward as it comes in response to record high levels of concern in Europe about who has access to data and who has control of it. Unlike current AWS Regions, which consist of multiple availability zones based in the same country, the new infrastructure will be local to the EU, with all data stored within those borders, and will be operated by AWS staff residing in the EU. That means all customer content and metadata created by customers will stay strictly in the EU.
An entirely new European company with a German parent and three subsidiaries to manage and run this sovereign cloud has been created. This facility reflects AWS’s dedication to adopting European regulatory standards. T
he European Sovereign Cloud has three main components: a distinct infrastructure separate from other regions and with its own billing and usage metering; a unique European SOC, managed and operated by European Union citizens; a new European CA that permits the independent operational use of the infrastructure.
“The decision is expected to help European businesses — especially public sector, defense, financial services and healthcare companies that must make sure that data is safely secured and protected — gain the freedom to store data in other regions.”
By delivering AWS in a sovereign environment, with the full range of AWS services available, organisations will be able to access the latest and most advanced AWS cloud services and features without impacting on sovereignty requirements.
Though questions remain about what the eventual fate of U.S. ownership under regulations like the CLOUD Act will be, AWS notes its robust technical and legal controls, publishers with EU laws prevailing and decision-making on lawful orders conducted by EU staff.
This is a significant investment for AWS; we continue to grow our business and find that we need to have the systems close to where our customers are so as to be capable of providing them with the products and resources they require.
A goal of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud is to give European controll to customers “without compromise,” establishing a new benchmark for digital sovereignty in the global cloud sector.
