AWS European Sovereign Cloud announced in January 2026 with plans to expand across Europe with new AWS Local Zones in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
In January 2026, Amazon Web Services (AWS) 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 a 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.
Meeting EU Requirements
AWS 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.
Most EU 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.
AWS Local Zones
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.
Stéphane Israël, managing director of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud and digital sovereignty.
“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. 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, 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 in exceptional cases 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.
Technical and compliance controls
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 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.
AWS announced in January 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.
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.
