Amazon Web Services (AWS) has established a new company for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud in light of increasing anxiety expressed by European customers.

Revealed by the US hyperscaler on June 3, AWS European Sovereign Cloud will now have an independent European governance structure and its own dedicated Security Operations Center, led by a new European Union-led parent company.

The move shortly follows similar efforts from competitors Microsoft and Google to reassure customers in light of EU concerns about trade tensions and the reliance on US tech companies.

According to AWS, the new company will be the only “fully-featured, independently operated sovereign cloud, backed by strong technical controls, sovereign assurances, and legal protections” and will combine operational autonomy with AWS services to meet the needs of European governments and enterprises.

Kathrin Renz will serve as managing director of the new AWS European Sovereign Cloud company, which is set to launch by the end of 2023.

The parent company and its three subsidiaries will be incorporated in Germany, and all those leading the business will be EU citizens residing in the EU.

In addition, AWS is establishing an independent advisory board that will be legally obligated to act in the best interest of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. The board will have four members and, again, all will be EU citizens residing in the EU, and at least one member will not be affiliated with Amazon.

“We’re taking a unique approach with AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Customers tell us they don’t want to choose between feature-limited solutions or the full power of AWS, so we’ve designed the AWS European Sovereign Cloud to address European digital sovereignty requirements while maintaining the services portfolio, security, reliability, and performance that customers expect from AWS,” said Renz, soon-to-be managing director of AWS European Sovereign Cloud. “Our investment in the AWS European Sovereign Cloud reinforces our commitment to Europe’s digital future – driving cloud and AI adoption is at the heart of Europe’s innovation agenda, and this solution will enable customers to accelerate innovation, while meeting their digital sovereignty needs.”

In addition to leadership, only AWS employees residing in the EU will control day-to-day operations, including access to data centers, technical support, and customer service for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.

The need for US hyperscalers to reassure their European customers has become more pronounced in the last six months since the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

The past few months alone have seen more than 100 organizations sign an open letter to European officials calling for the continent to become “more technologically independent” and saying the current reliance on hyperscalers creates “security and reliability risks.”

European groups have concerns ranging from the potential for the Trump administration to use reliance on US tech companies – such as Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and others – as leverage for trade talks, to the White House’s attacks on NATO, tariffs on the EU, and even threats to invade Greenland.

During European cloud provider OVHcloud’s April earnings call, CEO Benjamin Revcolevschi said: “In the current geopolitical context, we are seeing a shift in the concerns of private companies and public organisations in Europe. Questions of strategic autonomy are now on CEOs’ agendas.

“The choice of a cloud provider is no longer just a technical matter, but also a strategic issue.”

In light of this, Microsoft released a statement reaffirming its commitment to the continent, adding that it would increase its data center capacity in Europe by 40 percent over the next two years.

In a blog post, Microsoft president Brad Smith wrote: “Given recent geopolitical volatility, we recognize that European governments likely will consider additional options.

“Some of these may involve public financing to support European home-grown offerings. We recognize the importance of a diversified technology ecosystem, and we are committed to collaborating with European participants across the tech ecosystem.”

Google, meanwhile, updated its sovereign cloud solution to include the Google Cloud Data Boundary, which enables customers to create a data boundary and control where data is stored and processed, including ensuring data processing is either in the US or EU and specifying the country where it is stored, launched the “User Data Shield,” which adds Mandiant services to validate security for applications built on top of the data boundary, and expanded its partnership with French company Thales.