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Data sovereignty is no longer just a policy aspiration; it’s a practical and strategic consideration in building secure, future-ready system, argues Datadobi’s Matthias Nijs. (Image: Shutterstock)
In 2020, the European Parliament raised major concerns around a growing digital imbalance, warning of its “concern that the citizens, businesses and member states of the European Union are gradually losing control over their data, over their capacity for innovation, and over their ability to shape and enforce legislation in the digital environment.”
Fast forward to the present day, and the cloud landscape is more dynamic than ever. Leading hyperscalers, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, continue to drive transformation across the continent, offering scale, security, and innovation that deliver real value. Thousands of European organisations rely on their platforms to run mission-critical operations and push the boundaries of what’s possible in the digital economy.
While their presence has delivered the speed, scalability, and innovation that have accelerated transformation across industries, it has also raised pressing questions about legal jurisdiction, control and the future of European digital sovereignty. At the same time, the conversation around digital sovereignty is gaining urgency. As organisations become more globally integrated, the question of who controls data, and under what legal frameworks, has become more than just a compliance issue. It addresses resilience, autonomy, and the capacity to integrate digital operations with regional values and regulations.
Cloud data sovereignty across jurisdictions
When cloud environments cross borders, compliance complexity and geopolitical exposure quickly follow. Then there are national security mandates or executive orders in other countries that could compel data access in ways that sideline EU regulation altogether.
Exacerbating the problem is the unstructured nature of most enterprise data. With 80-90% of all new data falling into this category, the risk landscape becomes even more complex when that data is poorly managed or invisible across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Sovereignty becomes much harder to achieve without understanding where this data resides, who owns it, and how it’s being used.
This is not a critique of innovation, but sovereignty is no longer just an IT issue; it underpins control, resilience and the long-term ability of organisations to govern their data in alignment with European values.
Encouragingly, the landscape is beginning to evolve. European-led efforts, such as sovereign cloud initiatives and industry consortia, are laying the groundwork to offer control without sacrificing scalability, security, or operational excellence. Yet challenges remain, with fragmentation, cost pressures and a lack of like-for-like capability continuing to limit widespread adoption.
Meanwhile, hyperscalers are also adapting. AWS’s €7.8 billion investment in a European Sovereign Cloud, for instance, is one clear indication that sovereignty is rising on the corporate strategic agenda. Whether these efforts deliver meaningful choice or simply reinforce existing dependencies is a question many decision-makers are watching closely.
The role of intelligent data management
Thankfully, organisations don’t need to wait for systemic reform to assert greater control. Data sovereignty could be achieved right now with modern, vendor-agnostic data management solutions that offer visibility across fragmented environments. By building a single view of where data lives, how it flows and who can access it, businesses gain clarity and control, regardless of the cloud or infrastructure they choose. As the European Parliament puts it, “Building a secure pan-European data framework… would ensure a safer digital environment.”
Take data visibility, for example, where identifying which data needs local residency, how to back it up and how to apply consistent, compliant policies can quickly become overwhelming without the right tools and strategy in place. This is especially relevant for hybrid and multi-cloud setups, where data sprawl is the norm, and governance frameworks informed by real-time insights are becoming essential safeguards.
For many organisations, sovereignty can start now, with technologies that provide visibility and policy enforcement across disparate environments. Modern, vendor-agnostic data management solutions enable businesses to establish a unified view of their data, categorise it based on risk or regulatory sensitivity, and apply consistent governance, regardless of its location.
This level of control becomes essential in hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, where data sprawl, fragmentation, and jurisdictional overlap are common. By investing in visibility, classification, and control, businesses not only meet compliance but also build digital resilience and reinforce trust with customers and regulators alike.
To maintain that resilience over time, organisations must also guard against vendor lock-in at the data management layer. Solutions limited to a single storage environment can make it difficult to apply consistent governance or manage data lifecycles across hybrid, multi-cloud infrastructures. Archiving is a case in point: legacy tiering systems or intermediary gateways often fall short of the vendor neutrality required for long-term sovereignty. By adopting modern, interoperable platforms, businesses can retain control, ensure compliant data retention, and avoid future constraints on data access or portability.
Europe’s digital future will be shaped not only by where its data resides, but also by the control organisations have over that data, how it’s governed, accessed, and protected. Sovereignty is no longer just a policy aspiration; it’s a practical and strategic consideration in building secure, future-ready systems. As the European Parliament noted, developing trusted digital practices and frameworks will be key to ensuring the region remains a strong, autonomous force in the global data economy.
Matthias Nijs is the EMEA VP for Sales at Datadobi
