Microsoft rolls out ‘Sovereign Public Cloud’ amid EU pressure on data localisation

Microsoft has unveiled a run of young cloud computing services trim specifically for European governments and organisations, in a displace aimed at moderation growing concerns over data sovereignty and compliance with strict EU regulations.

The US-based tech firm announced its new “Sovereign Public Cloud” offering on Monday, emphasising that the platform is designed to ensure European data remains within the bloc and under local control. The development comes amid ongoing unease in Europe over the dominance of American tech giants and the extraterritorial reach of US data laws.

Under the new model, only personnel based in the European Union will have authority over remote access to cloud systems hosted in the region. Microsoft stated that “all remote access by Microsoft engineers to the systems that store and process your data in Europe is approved and monitored by European resident personnel in real-time,” adding that these activities will be recorded in a tamper-proof ledger.

The initiative also enables clients—particularly governments, critical infrastructure providers, and entities in regulated sectors—to run localised, isolated instances of Microsoft’s productivity tools, such as Exchange and SharePoint. These systems can be deployed within a customer’s own data centre, granting them full autonomy over data governance, security, and compliance.

“This solution is designed for those needing to meet the highest standards of data residency, operational autonomy, and disconnected access,” Microsoft said in a statement. The firm added that the services would be available by the end of 2025.

The new offerings build on Microsoft's earlier commitment in April to invest in expanding its data centre footprint across 16 European countries, foster an AI innovation ecosystem in the region, and collaborate more closely with European cloud providers.

Currently, US firms are estimated to control between 70 and 80 per cent of the European cloud services market, a situation that has prompted calls for stronger local alternatives. France, in particular, has advocated for greater European self-reliance in digital infrastructure, citing the risk of foreign access to sensitive data.

European privacy advocates and governments have voiced concerns over provisions in US legislation that allow Washington to compel tech companies to hand over data, regardless of where it is stored.

In a notable example of this growing resistance, the German state of Schleswig-Holstein announced last week that it would begin phasing out Microsoft products from its public administration systems later this year.

(With inputs from AFP)

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