Amazon Web Services (AWS) has exited the board of CISPE (cloud infrastructure providers in Europe) following a change of rules stipulating that only European companies are allowed to take the reigns.
AWS will remain a member of CISPE, but will no longer have voting rights after CISPE ruled that non-European cloud vendors with revenues surpassing €10 billion could no longer hold a seat on the board.
CISPE stated that it is now the "largest and only fully European-driven, independent trade body advocating for cloud infrastructure service providers and their customers across Europe."
In addition to the new rules, CISPE has introduced a Sovereignty and Strategic Autonomy Committee - details of which are sparse but is said to respond to "increase demand from European cloud users, government agencies, and private sector customers for competitive, homegrown cloud infrastructure and AI solutions."
First reported on by The Register, CISPE made the rule change on February 13. AWS's VP of policy EMEA Stephanie Ducalbe said: "We are proud of our contributions to CISPE's achievements and growth over nearly a decade and remain committed to the association and its founding principles. We believe this is the right moment to step back from the CISPE Board and create opportunities for other cloud services providers to take on leadership roles within the governing body of the association.
"As a dedicated CISPE member, we will continue to actively contribute to CISPE initiatives that champion the cloud industry, support cloud customers' choice, and enhance European competitiveness.”
The newly voted-in board members include Alexander Windbichler, Anexia (Austria); Jake Madders, Hyve (UK); Jacqueline van de Werken, Leaseweb (Netherlands); David Chassan, Outscale (France); and Lorenzo Chiriatti, Register (Italy). Members are elected for a three-year mandate.
Other companies to not seek re-election included Gigas and UpCloud.
Francisco Mingorance, secretary general of CISPE, said: “We value the contribution of all our departing board members and are excited to welcome the new ones. At CISPE, we have a unique ability to convene all voices to focus on critical issues. We value the contributions of large, non-European players as a vital part of the ecosystem and I am excited to invite more of Europe’s cloud champions to join us.”
The board change comes just days after CISPE's European Cloud Commission Observatory published its first report on Microsoft's progress following a long-term antitrust complaint that stated the company was "off track" on its commitments. Microsoft settled the complaint with CISPE back in July 2024, agreeing to pay €20 million ($21.7m) to settle the deal, as well to develop a product that enabled CISPE's members to run Microsoft software on their platforms at equivalent prices.
At the time, AWS was critical of the decision to settle with Microsoft. In January 2025, Microsoft became a member of CISPE - and AWS reportedly voted against that appointment.
