On Saturday, October 24, AWS disconnected its European sovereign cloud from its global network for several hours, and says it kept running without incident: workloads didn’t stop, and customers retained access to their data. That’s according to Stéphane Israël, general manager of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, in an article published on November 1. The exercise demonstrates that the platform can operate without infrastructure outside the European Union, but it doesn’t change an underlying fact: its ultimate owner is still Amazon, an American company subject to U.S. law.
AWS’s sovereign cloud test, in 20 seconds
- On October 24, AWS cut its global backbone and the system handling operational transfers outside the EU.
- According to the company, the Brandenburg region ran for several hours without affecting customers.
- There was no independent auditor, and the parent company remains American, subject to the CLOUD Act.
We reported in early October that AWS planned to disconnect its European sovereign cloud from the global network, and the question it raised then remains open after the exercise: whether a cloud whose parent belongs to a U.S. company can be considered sovereign at all. The technical result of the test doesn’t answer that question, because sovereignty doesn’t depend only on where the cables and servers sit, but also on which laws and which government can give orders to whoever controls them. It’s not an abstract debate, either: a CEPA analysis found that digital sovereignty could cost Europe €3.6 trillion, and companies like Telefónica and Indra have spent years weighing a sovereign cloud of their own after years with the hyperscalers.
What was disconnected, and what it demonstrates
According to AWS’s account, the local EU team shut down two global systems: AWS’s network backbone, and a dedicated system — managed by that same European team — that allows limited, controlled transfers of operational data outside the sovereign cloud. Traffic that normally runs over the backbone was rerouted through the public internet. The cloud ran on its own software and hardware resources, and according to the company, there was no effect on the availability of the sovereign cloud’s own services, the rest of AWS’s regions, or private Direct Connect connections. Once the exercise ended, traffic returned to its usual route.
AWS presents the exercise as the first public technical test of independence for a sovereign cloud region, describing it as turning a design promise into a verified result. The article, however, doesn’t specify how many hours the disconnection lasted, which services were checked one by one, or what metrics were recorded, and it doesn’t mention any independent auditor or observer. The assessments it includes come from partners and customers such as Capgemini, Atos, Genesys, and Accenture.
The AWS European Sovereign Cloud has been available since January 2026, with its first region in Brandenburg, Germany. It’s run by European entities incorporated under German law; customer-created content and metadata stay within the EU, and according to AWS, only EU residents working in the EU control its operation and support. Its two general managers, Stéphane Israël and Stefan Hoechbauer, are EU citizens.
Why an AWS cloud can’t be true European sovereignty
None of these measures change the ownership chain. The German entities that run the cloud are wholly owned by Amazon, an American company, and the platform’s advisory board, according to The Register, is made up of three Amazon employees and two independent members. The CLOUD Act, passed in the United States in 2018, lets U.S. authorities demand data that American companies control, wherever it’s stored. Executive orders and sanctions issued by the White House are likewise binding on U.S. companies and their subsidiaries. As long as AWS ultimately answers to a parent company that must comply with U.S. law and the U.S. government, including its president, its European cloud can offer operational autonomy, but not full European sovereignty.
AWS argues that the CLOUD Act is misunderstood, that it doesn’t grant automatic or unlimited access, and that since it began tracking requests in 2020, none has led it to hand over to the U.S. government content stored outside the United States. It also points to encryption, customer-controlled keys, and its Nitro system, which the company says prevents its own employees from accessing customer data. But the fact that something hasn’t happened is no guarantee it can’t. That’s effectively what Microsoft admitted to the French Senate in June 2025, when its director of public and legal affairs in France, Anton Carniaux, acknowledged under oath that he couldn’t guarantee French citizens’ data would never end up in the hands of the U.S. government, though he added that it never had.
There’s also a precedent for how a presidential decision can reach a cloud service. In May 2025, following Donald Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court, the AP reported that the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had lost access to his Microsoft email. The company denied having cut or suspended its services to the Court as an organization, but didn’t explain what happened to the prosecutor’s account. European providers such as Anexia — whose CEO, Alexander Windbichler, called AWS’s offering a smokescreen — point to that episode to argue that sovereignty also requires ownership and control to be genuinely European.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AWS European Sovereign Cloud?
An AWS cloud that’s physically and logically separate from the rest of its regions, with its first region in Brandenburg, Germany, operated by German entities and EU-resident staff. It has been available since January 2026.
What was tested on October 24?
That the cloud could keep running for several hours without AWS’s global backbone or the system for operational transfers outside the EU. According to AWS, there was no impact on customers.
Does AWS’s sovereign cloud protect against the CLOUD Act?
Not completely. Its parent company is American, and the CLOUD Act lets U.S. authorities demand data from American companies even when it’s stored outside the country. AWS says it has never handed over content stored outside the United States since it started tracking requests in 2020.
Was there an independent verification of the test?
AWS’s article doesn’t mention any independent auditor or observer. The assessments it publishes come from partners and customers.
Sources:
- AWS: Inside a successful AWS European Sovereign Cloud exercise to demonstrate independent operation
- The Register: AWS flips switch on Euro cloud as customers fret about digital sovereignty
- Trending Topics: Amazon’s new European sovereign cloud can’t rule out US data access
- The Register: Microsoft admits it cannot guarantee data sovereignty
- Euronews (AP): Trump’s sanctions on ICC halt tribunal’s work, staffers claim
- heise online: Microsoft denies mail blockade at the International Criminal Court
This article is a translation and adaptation of our original Spanish-language report on revistacloud.com: “AWS prueba su nube soberana sin red global, pero sigue siendo estadounidense.” This post is also available in Spanish.
