Thales has announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to establish a new sovereign cloud platform in Germany, as European organisations increasingly seek cloud services insulated from foreign jurisdictions.
The initiative will see Thales create a new German subsidiary that will operate independently from Google Cloud, staffed and managed entirely by local German personnel. The companies said the structure is designed to ensure that sensitive data processed or stored within the platform remains outside the reach of non-European entities and foreign legal frameworks.
The move builds on the model established through S3NS, Thales’ sovereign cloud subsidiary in France, which operates the company’s first European sovereign cloud region.
“Germany represents a critical market for sovereign technologies, and this partnership is a direct response to private and public sector German organisations wanting access to Google Cloud’s technology under full German control,” Christoph Ruffner, CEO and country director of Thales in Germany, said.
Under the agreement, the new platform will combine Google Cloud’s hyperscale cloud infrastructure and services with Thales’ cyber security and operational governance capabilities. The companies said the environment is being designed to meet German regulatory frameworks, including C5 and the emerging C3A standard.
Marianne Janik, vice president for EMEA North at Google Cloud, said the partnership marked a significant milestone in the company’s broader European digital sovereignty strategy.
“By combining the power and scale of Google Cloud with Thales’ deep expertise in cyber security and local operational control, we are enabling German organisations even in the most sensitive sectors to innovate with confidence,” Janik said.
The German sovereign cloud region will also be interoperable with Thales’ French sovereign cloud infrastructure operated through S3NS, enabling cross-border resilience and disaster recovery capabilities while maintaining sovereign controls. Thales said the two-region approach is intended to provide multinational European customers with greater operational continuity without compromising compliance obligations.
The company added that the initiative represents one of the first sovereign cloud models designed to simultaneously target multiple national certification frameworks across Europe, including France’s SecNumCloud and Germany’s C5 and C3A requirements.
Hélène Bringer, president of S3NS and vice-president of critical information systems at Thales, said the approach could simplify compliance burdens for organisations operating across multiple European jurisdictions while strengthening resilience.
The sovereign cloud platform is currently available in preview, with general availability expected before the end of 2026.
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David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.