AWS Launches European Sovereign Cloud: Architecture and Implications

Today marks a significant milestone in cloud sovereignty as AWS announces general availability of its European Sovereign Cloud. Designed specifically for European public sector organizations and regulated industries, this new offering addresses complex regulatory requirements around data residency, operational control, and jurisdictional independence that have historically forced organizations into legacy on-premises solutions.

Architectural Separation and Expansion

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud operates as a physically and logically separate partition within AWS's global infrastructure, with all components located within the EU. The inaugural region in Brandenburg, Germany, features multiple Availability Zones with redundant power and networking designed to function autonomously—even during external connectivity disruptions.

This isolation extends beyond hardware: The cloud partition (aws-eusc) uses dedicated European trust services for certificate authorities, EU-only top-level domains for Route 53 DNS, and independent IAM and billing systems isolated within EU borders. Technical controls explicitly block administrative access originating outside the EU.

Future expansion includes sovereign Local Zones in Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal, with options for hybrid deployments via AWS Outposts or Dedicated Local Zones in customer-owned data centers.

Sovereign Operational Model

A key differentiator is the operational governance:

• Exclusive EU Operations: Day-to-day management, support, and customer service are handled exclusively by EU residents (transitioning to EU citizens by 2027)
• European Legal Entity: Infrastructure is managed under German law through Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL
• Leadership: Stéphane Israël (Managing Director) and Stefan Hoechbauer (VP) oversee operations
• Advisory Board: Independent EU citizens provide governance oversight

Technical Sovereignty Controls

The architecture enforces sovereignty through:

1. Data Residency: All customer content and metadata (roles, resource labels, configurations) remains within the selected region
2. Network Isolation: Dedicated Route 53 servers using EU TLDs prevent external resolution
3. No Critical Dependencies: No reliance on non-EU personnel or infrastructure components
4. Compliance Framework: Adheres to the AWS Sovereign Reference Framework with SOC 2 attestation, BSI C5, and ISO 27001 certifications

Service Availability and Partners

Despite the isolation, the sovereign cloud launches with comprehensive services:

• AI/ML: Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock
• Compute: EC2, Lambda
• Containers: EKS, ECS
• Databases: Aurora, DynamoDB, RDS
• Storage: S3, EBS

Major partners including SAP, Siemens Healthineers, and Snowflake have committed to deploying solutions within the environment, enabling regulated workloads in healthcare, finance, and government.

Economic Impact

The €7.8 billion investment is projected to generate €17.2 billion in EU economic impact by 2040 while creating 2,800 annual full-time equivalent jobs. This positions the sovereign cloud as both a technical solution and economic catalyst.

Implementation Considerations

Architects should note these technical specifics:

• Access Pattern: Requires new root accounts scoped to the aws-eusc partition
• Region Identifier: eusc-de-east-1 for the Brandenburg region
• Migration Path: Compatible APIs simplify lift-and-shift transitions
• Pricing: EUR-denominated billing across eight supported currencies

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud Addendum details contractual obligations beyond standard agreements. For organizations bound by EU data sovereignty mandates, this architecture provides cloud-native capabilities without compromising regulatory requirements.

Explore the AWS Sovereign Cloud Reference Framework | Service Availability Matrix

All images courtesy of AWS