Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon, has established a new parent company and three subsidiary companies in Germany as part of the sovereign cloud the company is launching in the European Union.
AWS VP Kathrin Renz is the managing director of AWS’ German corporate parent, and will also be led by EU-based “government security and privacy officers,” according to Amazon. The German company will oversee a new sovereign cloud called AWS Europe’s Sovereign Cloud, which is scheduled to be released by the end of 2025.
“Everything you need to run AWS Europe’s sovereign cloud is in the EU,” writes AWS in a blog post. “In addition to independent infrastructure, there is zero operational control outside the EU border. Only AWS employees living in the EU will control their daily operations, including access to data centers for AWS Europe’s sovereign cloud, technical support, and customer service.”
Amazon Rivals The number of tech giants and cloud providers, including Microsoft and Google, offers European sovereign clouds, or data residency programs. These will help customers comply with local European privacy and data protection laws, such as the GDPR and German federal data protection laws.
In May 2024, AWS announced that it would invest 7.8 billion euros (approximately $8.8 billion) to build an AWS Europe sovereign cloud in Germany until 2040.
AWS Europe’s Sovereign Cloud is located within the EU and features an infrastructure operated independently of AWS’ existing cloud computing regions. According to Amazon, customers who use it will be able to preserve data and metadata, including the configurations they use to run AWS, including the ones they use to run AWS.
In addition to the presence of new businesses in Germany, AWS said it has set up an advisory committee consisting of EU citizens and dedicated European Security Operations Centres.
“(w)We will design AWS Europe’s sovereignty cloud to address European digital sovereignty requirements while maintaining the service portfolio, security, reliability and performance that our customers expect from AWS,” Lenz said in a statement. “AWS Europe’s investment in the sovereign cloud is reinforcing Europe’s commitment to a digital future.”
Amazon has found itself in the crosshairs of European regulators as it does not comply with EU competition and data privacy rules.
In 2021, Luxembourg’s Data Watchdog slapped Amazon with a then-recorded fine of 746 million euros (approximately $849 million) for allegedly processing user data from targeted ads without asking people’s consent. And in 2022, AWS allegedly resolved the EU antitrust probe and abused rival sales data to unfairly support its own products.