The EU Data Act cloud switching rules give business customers a legal right to leave a cloud or SaaS provider and take their data with them. Since 12 September 2025, the contract must allow the customer to start switching on no more than two months’ notice, finish the move within 30 calendar days in normal cases, and have at least 30 more days to collect its data. Switching charges are limited to the provider’s direct costs until 12 January 2027. From that date, they are banned.
This guide explains who the rules cover, what your cloud contract must say, how charges are being phased out and what to do now. It is for businesses that sell cloud services into the EU and for those that buy them.
What the EU Data Act cloud switching rules are for
The Data Act is an EU law, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854. Chapter VI of that law deals with “switching”, which means moving from one cloud provider to another, or moving data back to your own servers (lawyers call this “on-premises”).
The problem it tackles is vendor lock-in: once your data and settings sit with one provider, long notice periods, exit fees and unusual data formats make leaving slow and costly. The switching rules remove those barriers.
Who the switching rules cover
The rules apply to providers of a “data processing service”. In simple terms, this is a digital service that gives the customer on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable, scalable and elastic computing resources. “Elastic” means the customer can quickly use more or less capacity as needed. This covers infrastructure, platform and software offered “as a service” (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS), such as rented servers, managed databases and online CRM or accounting tools.
The edges are not always clear. A useful test is elasticity: can one customer draw more or fewer resources depending on its workload? A simple hosted brochure website is unlikely to be caught; a cloud database or multi-user SaaS platform is much more likely to be.
Where the provider is based does not decide the question on its own. If you are a UK or UAE business supplying cloud services to customers in the EU, or buying them for EU operations, assume the rules may apply and review each service.
The cloud switching clauses your contract must include
The customer’s switching rights must be set out clearly in a written contract. The provider must make that contract available before signature, in a form the customer can save and reproduce. At a minimum, the contract must contain the points in this checklist:
| Clause | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Right to switch | The customer can move to another provider or to its own servers, without undue delay. |
| Notice period | No more than two months’ notice to start the switching process. |
| Transitional period | The move itself must be done within a maximum of 30 calendar days after the notice period. The contract stays in force during this time. |
| Help during the move | The provider must give reasonable assistance, keep the service running, warn of known risks and keep the data secure. |
| Exit strategy support | The provider must support the customer’s exit plan and give all relevant information. |
| List of exportable data | An exhaustive list of the data and digital assets that can be moved, including at least all “exportable data”. |
| Trade secret exclusions | An exhaustive list of any provider-internal data that will not be exported to protect trade secrets. This must not block or delay the switch. |
| Data retrieval period | At least 30 calendar days after the transitional period ends to collect the data. |
| Erasure | Full deletion of the customer’s exportable data and digital assets after retrieval, once the switch has succeeded. |
| Termination | The contract ends when switching is complete, or at the end of the notice period if the customer only wants its data erased. |
| Charges | Any switching charges allowed under the phase-out rules described below. |
“Exportable data” means, broadly, the data the customer put into the service and the data the service generated from the customer’s use of it. It does not include the provider’s own protected know-how.
When 30 days is not technically possible
Some migrations are too complex for 30 days. In that case, the provider must tell the customer within 14 working days of the switching request, explain why, and propose an alternative transitional period of no more than seven months. The service must keep running throughout. Separately, the contract must let the customer extend the transitional period once, for a period the customer considers more suitable.
Switching charges: the countdown to January 2027
Switching charges are fees for leaving, including data egress fees (charges for moving data out of a provider’s network). The Data Act phases them out in two steps:
| Period | What the provider may charge for switching |
|---|---|
| 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027 | Reduced charges only, no higher than the provider’s costs directly linked to the switch |
| From 12 January 2027 | No switching charges at all |
Before signing, the provider must also tell the customer clearly about standard service fees, early termination penalties and any reduced switching charges, and warn where switching would be highly complex or costly.
Technical duties: making the move actually work
A right to leave is not much use if the data cannot be used anywhere else. So providers must remove commercial, technical, contractual and organisational obstacles that stop customers from:
- ending the contract after the notice period and a successful switch;
- signing up with a different provider for the same type of service;
- moving their exportable data and digital assets, including after using a free tier;
- getting “functional equivalence”, which means the same basic results with the new provider for infrastructure-type services;
- unbundling certain infrastructure services from other services, where technically feasible.
Providers of other services (such as SaaS) must offer open interfaces and, once they exist, follow the relevant interoperability specifications or harmonised standards. Until then, in practice, the key duty is to export the customer’s data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. That gives you portability, even if it does not yet guarantee that two systems will work together smoothly.
There are limits. Providers are not required to develop new technologies or services, or to hand over digital assets protected by intellectual property rights or trade secrets. Similar duties also apply when a customer uses several cloud services in parallel, and in that case the provider may only pass on its actual data egress costs.
Exceptions and proposed changes
Two kinds of service get special treatment:
- Custom-built services. Where most of a service was built for one customer and is not offered at broad commercial scale in the provider’s catalogue, some duties do not apply, including the rules on switching charges.
- Trial and test versions. Non-production versions offered for testing and evaluation for a limited time fall outside the switching chapter entirely.
In both cases, the provider must tell the customer before signing which obligations do not apply.
The European Commission has also proposed changes to the Data Act as part of its “Digital Omnibus” package (COM(2025) 837), including a lighter regime for some switching obligations in certain cases. Treat this as a proposal until it is formally adopted, and check its status before relying on it.
Practical examples
Example 1: A Dubai SaaS company with clients in Germany. A Dubai software company sells an online HR platform to companies in Germany. Its standard terms require six months’ notice and charge a “data export fee” of a fixed amount per gigabyte. Under the EU Data Act cloud switching rules, the notice period must be cut to two months at most. The export fee can only reflect the company’s real, direct costs of the switch, and it must go completely from 12 January 2027. The company should also add clauses on the 30-day transition, the 30-day retrieval window and erasure, and publish its switching information on its website.
Example 2: A UK retailer leaving its cloud host. A UK online retailer runs its EU shop on a cloud hosting service and decides to move to a cheaper provider. It gives two months’ notice. The current provider says the database migration is too complex for 30 days. To be compliant, the provider must say this within 14 working days, explain why, propose a timetable of no more than seven months and keep the shop running in the meantime. The retailer should ask for a written migration plan and test an export before the live switch.
EU Data Act cloud switching: what to do next
- Map your services. List every cloud or SaaS service you provide or buy and decide whether each one is a data processing service.
- Update your terms. Add the switching clauses from the checklist above: notice, transition, retrieval, erasure and termination. Our team can help with cloud and SaaS contract drafting.
- Review a supplier’s contract before you sign. If you are the customer, ask for a contract review and red-lining of the provider’s terms against these rules.
- Fix your pricing. Make sure any switching or egress charge is cost-based now, and removed from 12 January 2027.
- Build an exit plan. Agree the list of exportable data and test an export before you need it.
- Check personal data too. If the data includes personal data, moving it also raises GDPR questions. See our GDPR compliance support and our guide on whether GDPR applies to UAE companies.
- Record any exceptions. If you rely on the custom-built or trial exceptions, write down why and tell the customer before signing.
- Get advice. To review your terms against the Data Act, contact us.
This article is general information, not legal advice for a specific case.
Frequently asked questions
When did the EU Data Act cloud switching rules start to apply?
The Data Act, including its cloud switching chapter, has applied since 12 September 2025.
What is the maximum notice period for switching cloud provider?
Two months. The contract cannot require a longer notice period to start the switching process.
Can a cloud provider still charge for switching?
Until 12 January 2027, only reduced charges that do not exceed the provider’s costs directly linked to the switch. From 12 January 2027, no switching charges may be imposed.
What happens if 30 days is not enough to switch?
The provider must tell the customer within 14 working days, explain why, and propose an alternative period of no more than seven months, while keeping the service running.
Do the rules apply to free trials?
No. Non-production versions provided for testing and evaluation for a limited period fall outside the switching chapter.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act), Articles 2, 23, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34 and 50, EUR-Lex
- EUR-Lex summary: Rules on fair access to and use of data (Data Act)
- European Commission, Digital Omnibus proposal COM(2025) 837 final, EUR-Lex
- Leonie Ott and Yifeng Dong, ‘Clouds Connecting Europe: Interoperability in the EU Data Act’, 16(2) (2025) JIPITEC 154
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