Amazon’s (AMZN) Amazon Web Services announced the general availability of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a new, independent cloud for Europe entirely located within the EU.
AWS said it also plans to extend the AWS European Sovereign Cloud footprint from Germany across the EU to support strict 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, the company added.
Amazon noted that as part of its long-term commitment, it plans to invest more than €7.8B in the AWS European Sovereign Cloud in Germany and support an average of 2,800 full-time equivalent jobs annually. This could add about €17.2B to Germany’s gross domestic product, or GDP, according to the company.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is physically and logically separate from other AWS regions and is operated exclusively by EU residents. It has no critical dependencies on non-EU infrastructure, the company added.
AWS Germany Chief Technology Officer Michael Hanisch told Reuters that the sovereign cloud will allow the cloud to operate even if the EU were disconnected from the internet or the U.S. were to prohibit software exports.
Europeans are increasingly seeking substitutes to largely U.S.-dominated tech amid concerns about the legal data access allowed to authorities. In the U.S., the CLOUD Act requires U.S.-based providers to grant authorities access to data even if it is stored abroad.
The other two major U.S. cloud providers are Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) Google.
Last year in November, Google said it will invest €.55B in Germany through 2029, amid efforts to boost its infrastructure and data center capacity in the country. In June 2025, Microsoft rolled out sovereign cloud to comply with EU regulations. In November, Microsoft unveiled new sovereignty capabilities for Europe and Switzerland, including expanded AI services within the EU Data Boundary, and enhanced infrastructure options for private cloud deployments.