The residency gap: what 'EU region' does and doesn't buy you

Selecting an EU region in a US hyperscaler console is not the same as buying sovereign capacity. Here is the distinction, and the paperwork that proves it.

Data residency and data sovereignty are different claims. Residency is about where bytes sit; sovereignty is about who can compel access to them. An EU region operated by a US-headquartered company satisfies the first and not, cleanly, the second.

For most workloads this is fine. For regulated enterprises, sovereign-AI programmes, and client DDQs with a data-sovereignty clause, it is the difference between a passing and a failing answer.