Data Act: cloud switching and portability

Short answer: The Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854) imposes concrete obligations on cloud providers to facilitate switching to another provider. Commercial, technical and contractual barriers are prohibited. Switching charges are capped at actual direct costs until 11 January 2027; from 12 January 2027 they are in principle fully prohibited.

Scope and entry into application

The Data Act entered into force on 11 January 2024 and applies from 12 September 2025. Chapter VI (Articles 23–30) contains the switching obligations for providers of data processing services. That concept covers cloud and edge computing services at all layers — infrastructure (IaaS), platform (PaaS), software (SaaS), storage and database services — regardless of the provider's location, as long as the customer is established in the EU.

Obligations for providers (Articles 23–26 and 30)

Article 23 requires providers to remove all commercial, technical, contractual and organisational obstacles that prevent customers from: terminating their contract, concluding a contract with another provider, porting data and digital assets, achieving functional equivalence with the new service, and — where technically feasible — unbundling individual services.

Article 25 sets maximum procedural timelines. The notice period may not exceed two months. Following notice, a transitional period of at most 30 calendar days begins; in exceptional cases this may, at the customer's request, be extended to up to seven months. After the transitional period, a minimum data retrieval window of at least 30 calendar days applies. Throughout the switch, the provider must guarantee business continuity, offer reasonable assistance and maintain a high level of security.

Article 26 requires providers to publish clear information on their website about available switching procedures, supported formats and known technical limitations, together with an up-to-date register of data structures and open interoperability specifications.

Article 30 addresses the technical side: providers must make open interfaces available, export data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and comply with harmonised interoperability standards within 12 months of their publication in the EU standards repository.

Switching charges: transitional regime (Article 29)

Until 11 January 2027, switching charges are permitted but may not exceed the direct costs actually incurred by the provider in connection with the switching process. From 12 January 2027, switching charges are in principle fully prohibited. Fees for additional services beyond the minimum requirements of the regulation — such as accelerated data conversion into a specific format — may still be charged. Early termination penalties fall outside this prohibition.

Enforcement

Member States designate competent authorities to handle complaints and impose penalties; the level of fines is determined by national legislation. In the Netherlands, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has been designated as supervisory authority for the Data Act.