19 European data centre operations will be overseen by a board of directors consisting exclusively of European nationals and operating under European law. Microsoft also vowed to “promptly and vigorously” contest any order by a government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, should the unlikely event ever occur. It will also make contingencies with European partners to ensure operational continuity if it is ever required by a court to suspend its services across the continent. “By including a new European Digital Resilience Commitment in all of our contracts with European national governments and the European Commission, we will make this commitment legally binding on Microsoft Corporation and all its subsidiaries,” said Smith. “We are confident of our legal rights to ensure continuous operation of our data centres in Europe.” The third commitment ensures Microsoft will continue to protect the privacy of European data by enabling customers to control where their data is stored and processed, how it is encrypted and secured, and when Microsoft can access it. The EU Data Boundary project, which was implemented in January 2024, offers European customers the ability to have their data stored and processed in Europe. It was extended in 2025 to include professional services data from technical support interactions. Microsoft also provides tools via Microsoft Azure Confidential Compute, Azure Key Vault, Purview Customer Key, and its Cloud for Sovereignty for securing and encrypting data. Additionally, Microsoft has appointed a new deputy chief information security officer for Europe – temporarily held by Ann Johnson, who leads Microsoft’s Enterprise Cybersecurity Group – as part of its Cybersecurity Governance Council. This senior executive will be accountable for compliance with current and emerging cybersecurity regulations in Europe. Microsoft will also dedicate additional resources to comply with the Cyber Resilience Act, which sets common cybersecurity standards for products with digital elements in the EU. Plus, the new European Security Program will expand the geographic reach of Microsoft’s existing work and introduce new elements that will protect European governments from ransomware groups and cyberattacks. There are three key elements to the programme: increasing AI-based threat intelligence sharing with European governments, making additional investments to strengthen cybersecurity capacity and resilience, and expanding Microsoft’s partnerships to disrupt cyberattacks and dismantle networks used by cybercriminals. Finally, Microsoft committed to updating its AI Access Principles, which were launched in 2024 to ensure the Azure AI platform and infrastructure is open to a variety of business models. It now hosts over 1,800 AI models, most of which are open-source models and available via public APIs to facilitate interoperability. This allows customers to choose which models to use and where to build and run their AI-powered solutions – on Azure, in another public cloud, or in their own data centre. “As we celebrated Microsoft’s 50th birthday, earlier this month we recognised that our longstanding presence in Europe has been a lynchpin of our success,” said Smith. “Europe has treated us well. Our support for Europe has always been – and always will be – steadfast.” “ We will always be dedicated to creating jobs, promoting economic opportunities and strengthening cybersecurity on both sides of the Atlantic” We will help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe. We will uphold Europe's digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility. We will continue to protect the privacy of European data. We will always help protect and defend Europe's cybersecurity. We will help strengthen Eurpose's economic competitiveness, including for open source. Microsoft's new European digital commitments 1 2 3 4 5
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