AWS European Sovereign Cloud Ensures Digital Sovereignty in Europe
AWS architecture for sovereign cloud
Whether in the public sector, the Industry or in regulated industries: US cloud providers play a central role in the digital infrastructure of many organizations. However, the legal basis for their use is currently massively faltering. Time for Europe to become more independent.
It is clear that most companies can hardly do without the technological strengths of global hyperscalers such as AWS, as they are, after all, the backbone of modern digital infrastructure. This makes it all the more important to combine this performance with European control, a clear legal situation and complete data sovereignty.
This is exactly where the European Sovereign Cloud (ESC) from Amazon Web Services (AWS): It is operated by an independent European company, meets the strictest European requirements - and consistently separates operational responsibility, access and control from the US parent company. The go-live of the first AWS-ESC region in Brandenburg is already planned for the end of 2025.
Why Are Companies Considering the ESC?
The European Sovereign Cloud meets the highest technical and regulatory requirements and offers specific use cases for the public sector and regulated industries that go beyond traditional cloud offerings.
Leadership made in EU
The European Sovereign Cloud is designed and operated exclusively for Europe - physically, logically and organizationally completely separate from other AWS regions.
The highlight: The entire organization is also under European leadership. The management of the newly founded AWS parent company in Potsdam and the independent advisory board are staffed exclusively by EU personnel. Even operations - from access to the data centers and control of the infrastructure to support and customer service - are carried out by AWS employees based in the EU. This means that operational control remains entirely in European hands.
With an independently operated certification authority, root certificates and trust services, all security-relevant processes of AWS ESC also remain within the scope of the EU. This ensures that the entire cloud infrastructure is free from non-European influence. This can be crucial for tenders with high compliance requirements - especially in administration or healthcare.
Data sovereignty - including metadata
With the AWS ESC, the actual data and all metadata - such as roles, authorizations, or configurations - remain completely in the EU. For companies in highly regulated industries this data sovereignty is essential: it enables legally compliant operation of security-critical applications and adherence to complex data protection and compliance requirements.
Sovereignty meets AWS compatibility
The European Sovereign Cloud is based on the same technical foundation as the established AWS cloud. This enables the transfer of existing workloads without any major changes to tools, interfaces or processes. Numerous AWS services - from storage and compute to specialized tools for artificial intelligence, machine learning or analytics - will also be available in the ESC. A large number of AWS services are available at the start, which will be gradually expanded as required.
Technical security architecture at the highest level
The European Sovereign Cloud is based on the proven AWS Nitro system. This ensures strict logical separation between customer data and the underlying host system. AWS itself also has no access to customer data - either directly or via technical back doors. This is complemented by a dedicated Security Operations Center under European management that monitors the entire cloud infrastructure around the clock, detects security-relevant events in real time, and coordinates measures to avert threats.
In addition, the European Sovereign Cloud offers a tamper-resistant architecture with comprehensive control mechanisms. The combination of security-oriented hardware, multi-layer encryption, and organizational control creates a particularly high level of security. For operators of critical infrastructures, this is even a prerequisite for the use of cloud-based services
Long-term commitment to Europe
The European Sovereign Cloud is not a one-off solution, but part of a long-term cloud strategy for Europe: AWS plans to invest around 7.8 billion euros in the development and operation of the sovereign cloud by 2040. This includes new data centers and training programs on topics related to the cloud and digital transformation.
The aim of this investment is to offer European customers an additional choice to meet the various requirements for data residency, operational autonomy or resilience. In doing so, customers will receive the same security, availability and performance they are already accustomed to from existing AWS regions.
AWS ESC in Practice: Use Cases for the Public Sector and Regulated Industries
The following two examples show how AWS ESC can offer concrete added value in sensitive areas.
Sovereign cloud for the public sector
AWS ESC creates the conditions for administrations to use modern sovereign clouds in compliance with the law. The infrastructure was designed in close coordination with European government agencies and meets technical and legal requirements for handling sensitive data, such as those that exist in administrations or regulated industries.
With its EU-based governance, C5-compliant security architecture and fully European operation, the AWS ESC offers a potentially suitable foundation - for e-government platforms, for example, or for future projects such as register modernization and federal digital strategies.
Digital sovereignty in the healthcare sector
The European Sovereign Cloud also offers advantages for clinics, laboratories and doctors' surgeries: Particularly strict requirements apply here in terms of data protection, reliability and legal compliance. The AWS ESC can guarantee a high level of regulatory security and technical reliability, particularly for secure storage and analysis of patient data, cloud-native healthcare platforms or AI-supported diagnostic systems - without compromising on modern scalability.
The European Sovereign Cloud initiated by AWS is particularly suitable for areas of application with increased requirements for data protection, compliance and regulatory security - for example in heavily regulated markets such as the Energy-, Finance- or Healthcare industry. For less sensitive applications without specific data residency or digital sovereignty requirements, the established AWS often remains the more economical choice.
Conclusion: A Strategic Cloud Building Block for Europe’s Digital Sovereignty
The AWS ESC is more than just a technical offering from Amazon Web Services - and not just another AWS region. Announced in May 2024, the AWS ESC was developed with the aim of strengthening digital sovereignty in Europe. It offers organizations with high compliance requirements, such as administrations or strictly regulated industries, the opportunity to consistently drive digital transformation forward - without compromising on data protection, control or compliance.
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