It’s a quietly seismic move. In an age where regulatory pressure and digital sovereignty are reshaping cloud strategy, AWS has unveiled new details about its forthcoming European Sovereign Cloud
, promising unprecedented levels of regional control.
For organisations operating in high-compliance environments or under EU sovereignty mandates, this represents a significant shift—not just in where data resides, but in who can access it, who governs it, and under what legal frameworks.
What’s New in the AWS European Sovereign Cloud
The new initiative introduces a suite of structural and operational changes that promise to reshape how sensitive workloads are managed across the EU, including:
- EU-only Operations: All support and operational control—including access permissions and incident handling—will be staffed exclusively by EU-resident AWS personnel.
- Independent Governance: A separate EU legal entity will govern the new cloud region, offering formal oversight and autonomy from AWS’s global commercial structure.
- Enhanced Sovereign Controls: Customers can enforce stricter boundaries for data location, access, and control, beyond what standard AWS regions currently provide.
- Regulatory Readiness: The new structure is designed to support compliance with GDPR, NIS2, DORA, and national digital sovereignty requirements.
- Location and Timeline: First region will be in Frankfurt, with operations commencing by the end of 2025.
Why It Matters to Our Clients
For many European organisations—especially in the public sector, critical infrastructure, finance, and healthcare—cloud adoption has often run up against sovereignty barriers:
- Cross-border data concerns, particularly around US legal jurisdiction.
- Stringent compliance frameworks, from GDPR to emerging EU legislation.
- Internal procurement rules or board-level mandates requiring local control.
Until now, these requirements have often forced teams to compromise on cloud capabilities or delay modernisation efforts altogether. That equation may be about to change.
A New Platform for Confidence
At PCG, we see this as a foundational moment—one that gives our clients new flexibility in where and how they modernise. So, whether you’re preparing for NIS2 enforcement, exploring sovereign AI workloads, or simply looking to future-proof your architecture, the European Sovereign Cloud adds a new layer of assurance.
And you don’t need to wait to start — 2025 is already more than halfway through!
We’re already helping clients design cloud-native solutions with strong sovereignty principles—such as our recent work with GRNET to build a secure, sovereign-by-design AI platform for research using AWS services. With an evolving sovereignty roadmap and our hands-on expertise, the arrival of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud means you can plan with confidence, build for compliance, and accelerate your modernisation journey—without sacrificing control.
Get ready for the EU-Operated Cloud
If you're preparing for the transition to AWS’s EU-Operated Cloud—or simply reassessing your compliance and sovereignty posture—our experts can help you get ahead, starting with a free consultation to map your next steps.