Facing intense scrutiny from European lawmakers over data storage, Microsoft has unveiled a new Sovereign Public Cloud offering exclusively for the continent.

The tech giant has effectively expanded its Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty service for European users, providing continental customers with improved tools to encrypt their data and keep it within the boundaries of the EU.

The service, currently in preview and scheduled to be generally available in all of Microsoft’s European cloud regions later this year, allows only Microsoft staff based in Europe to control remote access to customer data.

“All remote access by Microsoft engineers to the systems that store and process your data in Europe is approved and monitored by European resident personnel in real time and will be logged in a tamper-evident ledger,” Judson Althoff, Microsoft’s EVP and chief commercial officer, wrote in a blog post.

Microsoft’s decision to launch such a service comes as European lawmakers are tightening rules on data sharing and transfers. The upcoming EU Data Act forces cloud service providers to shore up protections on services to European customers, regardless of the provider’s location.

The Act, which operators have to abide by beginning in September, is designed to provide “fair distribution of the value of data” and is the latest in a wave of EU legislative efforts attempting to rein in the power of "big tech."

Microsoft's attempt to comply sees its new Sovereign Public Cloud encrypt user data and provide access to tools like Microsoft 365 Local and the Azure Local security platform.

Among the new tools is Data Guardian, which provides additional human and technical oversight whenever engineers outside of Europe need access, a move Microsoft claims will provide additional levels of assurance for European customers.

The new service also adds to Microsoft’s EU Data Boundary offering, unveiled back in March, another tool aimed at ensuring European customer data stays firmly within the region.

The launch of Microsoft’s Sovereign Public Cloud comes as company president Brad Smith recently affirmed the company’s commitments to the wishes of continental lawmakers, an apparent departure from the White House’s criticism following EU sanctions against the likes of Apple and Meta.

“We understand that European laws apply to our business practices in Europe, just as local laws apply to local practices in the US and similar laws apply elsewhere in the world,” Smith wrote in a recent blog post. “We’re committed not only to building digital infrastructure for Europe, but to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating our products and services.”

Microsoft joins the growing list of cloud providers looking to keep in line with the EU’s rules on data transfers, which already includes hyperscale rivals Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Oracle, as well as locally focused initiatives, like OVHcloud and Deep’s Luxembourg-based offering.