Definition. Cloud offerings from providers headquartered, owned and operated in the EU, whose services are primarily subject to EU law and EU data locations. Examples: OVHcloud, Hetzner, IONOS, STACKIT, Scaleway. The term is not strictly defined. Depending on the reading, co-location and sovereign setups also count.

Why it matters. For mid-sized companies, a European provider reduces specific legal uncertainties (third-country transfers, extraterritorial access rights) and strengthens regional supply chains. It does not replace your own security and architecture work.

Related. Digital Sovereignty, Sovereign Infrastructure, Vendor Lock-in, Self-hosted Infrastructure