AWS Security Blog
Inside a successful AWS European Sovereign Cloud exercise to demonstrate independent operation
On Saturday, October 24, 2026 we conducted a successful exercise demonstrating that the AWS European Sovereign Cloud can operate without depending on any infrastructure outside the European Union (EU). This was the first public technical exercise demonstrating the independence of a sovereign cloud Region.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is a new, independent cloud partition for Europe that became generally available in January 2026, with its first AWS Region in Brandenburg, Germany. It is physically and logically separate from other AWS Regions, with no critical dependencies on non-EU infrastructure, and all customer content and customer-created metadata remains in the EU.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is managed through dedicated European legal entities established under German law and operated entirely within Europe. My fellow Managing Director, Stefan Hoechbauer, and I called for the exercise. We are EU citizens residing in the EU, responsible for its management and operations, including its infrastructure, technology, and services. Only EU residents located in the EU control its operations and support, and AWS is gradually transitioning the AWS European Sovereign Cloud to be operated exclusively by EU citizens located in the EU.
What we did
In standard operations, the AWS European Sovereign Cloud uses two global systems: the AWS Global Network backbone, and a dedicated system operated by the local EU team to manage limited, controlled transfers of operational AWS data. As we explained ahead of the exercise, neither is critical to running the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. During the exercise, the team switched off both systems, and traffic that normally travels across the AWS Global Network backbone rerouted securely over the public internet.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud can operate independently at any time, and for several hours on October 24 the team showed exactly that, running it on only its own software and hardware resources, operated by EU-resident staff within the EU.
Workloads continued running, and customers could still access their data. The exercise did not affect service availability within the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, other AWS Regions, or private connectivity through AWS Direct Connect. When the exercise finished, traffic returned to its normal path.
Why we ran it
Transparency is at the core of our digital sovereignty commitment, so we ran the AWS European Sovereign Cloud exercise openly and reported back on the outcome.
The exercise produced verifiable technical and operational evidence that the AWS European Sovereign Cloud can continue to operate independently within the EU. It turns a design claim into a verified result. Organizations in regulated industries and the public sector can take this result to regulators and their boards as evidence for their compliance and assurance documents.
What customers and partners are saying
“Digital sovereignty is ultimately about trust and safeguarding business continuity. The successful demonstration of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud’s operational independence is an important proof point for European organizations with the most stringent sovereignty requirements. Combined with Capgemini’s European heritage, presence and AWS capabilities, we can deliver a sovereign proposition in Europe, for Europe, by Europeans, enabling clients to accelerate secure and resilient cloud and AI transformation at scale whilst assuring business continuity.” – Fernando Alvarez, Chief Strategy and Development Officer and Group Executive Board Member, Capgemini
“Autonomy, resilience and operational control are foundations driving digital sovereignty concerns across the public sector and regulated industries. Achieving sovereignty requires more than a sound and consistent architecture; it demands operational evidence to build trust. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud team has provided evidence, supporting organizations on the transformation of their critical data and digital assets toward greater sovereign control. Having engaged with this team since the inception of the project, and as a Launch Partner of the AWS Digital Sovereignty Competency, Atos helps customers define their sovereignty roadmaps, adopt the appropriate graduated solutions, and confidently operate and govern their target sovereignty posture.” – Michael Kollar, Digital Sovereignty Leader and Head of Cloud & Modern Infrastructure and Digital Workplace, Atos Group
“For organizations in regulated industries, meeting strict data and operational requirements cannot come at the cost of a great customer experience. Running on the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, Genesys can help European organizations deliver exactly that, with their data and operations kept in the EU. Seeing the AWS European Sovereign Cloud operate independently under real conditions helps give our shared customers added confidence to move their most sensitive workloads to the cloud.” – Daniel Karadza, Senior Director, Partners and Alliances, EMEA Central and Benelux, Genesys
“Operational independence is a defining pillar of digital sovereignty, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud has shown what that means in practice. It runs without reliance on any infrastructure outside the EU and is operated entirely by EU residents, which makes it a strong fit for Europe’s regulated industries and public sector. As an early collaborator with the AWS European Sovereign Cloud team before its launch, Accenture is uniquely positioned to help clients navigate sovereignty requirements and scale with greater confidence and control.” – Emanuele Baldassarre, Managing Director, Accenture
Learn more
To learn more about the design and digital sovereignty controls of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, visit aws.eu. If you have questions about this exercise or want to discuss your workloads, reach out to AWS Support or contact your AWS Account team.