The EU Data Act's cloud switching provisions (Chapter VI) are among the most commercially significant requirements for cloud service providers. From September 2025, cloud customers have enforceable rights to switch providers without excessive barriers — and cloud providers face concrete obligations to support switching, including the elimination of egress fees by September 2027.
Why Cloud Switching Rules Exist
Cloud customers have historically faced high practical barriers to switching providers:
- Proprietary data formats that make migration complex and costly
- Egress fees that make it expensive to download data at scale
- Contractual lock-in provisions
- Technical incompatibilities between providers
The Data Act addresses this directly. The legislative intent is to make the cloud market more competitive by ensuring customers can move to a better-value or better-fit provider without incurring penalties.
Who Is Covered
The cloud switching rules apply to all cloud service providers operating in the EU:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
The SME exemption that applies to the IoT provisions does not apply to the cloud switching rules. Microenterprises and small enterprises are still subject to cloud switching obligations.
Cloud service providers established outside the EU that provide services to EU customers are also in scope — the rules apply based on where the customer is located, not where the provider is established.
Core Cloud Switching Rights for Customers
Right to Switch Without Excessive Barriers
Contractual terms that prevent or unreasonably impede switching are void under the Data Act. This includes:
- Termination penalties disproportionate to the contract value
- Minimum notice periods that are unreasonably long
- Restrictions on data portability that have no technical justification
- Clauses that require customers to destroy migrated data after switching
Right to Data Portability in a Standard Format
Cloud customers must be able to export their data in a format that is usable by another provider. The Data Act requires:
- Data in a "commonly used and open format" or an interoperable format that enables the customer to re-import it elsewhere
- Transmission of data to the new provider directly, where technically feasible
- Documentation sufficient for the new provider to re-implement the service
This does not mean every provider must support every other provider's format. But the data must be provided in a form that does not create artificial technical barriers to migration.
Right to Equivalent Functionality During Transition
Customers must be supported during the switching process. Cloud providers must maintain service during migration and cannot degrade the customer's service as a mechanism to discourage switching.
Egress Fee Elimination
By 12 September 2027, egress fees for customers switching cloud providers must be eliminated. Egress fees are charges applied when customers download their data from the provider's infrastructure.
Transition period (September 2025 to September 2027): Egress fees are permitted but must be:
- Reduced to the cost of transmission (no profit margin on egress)
- Transparent — disclosed clearly in the contract
- Not structured to create a barrier to switching
After September 2027: egress fees for switching purposes are prohibited entirely. Providers can still charge for ongoing data transfer services (API calls, data synchronisation) but cannot charge for a customer downloading their own data to leave.
Contract Requirements
Cloud service providers must update their standard terms to comply. The Data Act requires contracts to:
Include explicit switching provisions:
- The process for initiating a switch
- The maximum transition period (the Data Act sets a 30-day default, which can be extended by agreement up to a maximum of 180 days for complex migrations)
- What data will be made available and in what format
Not include lock-in terms:
- No disproportionate penalties for early termination
- No restrictions on the customer using a competitor's service simultaneously
- No provisions preventing the customer from operating both services in parallel during migration
Disclose egress fee policy:
- Current egress charges and the plan for their elimination
- Confirmation of compliance with the September 2027 deadline
Functional Equivalence Documentation
Beyond data portability, the Data Act also addresses functional equivalence — the ability to replicate the service on another platform, not just migrate the data. Cloud providers must maintain documentation that enables customers to understand what is needed to replicate the service's functionality.
This is a significant requirement for complex PaaS or managed service providers. If your service involves proprietary processing logic, custom orchestration, or unique configurations, documentation sufficient for migration must be maintained and made available to customers.
Obligations on New Providers (Switching Destinations)
The Data Act also imposes obligations on cloud providers that receive switching customers:
- They must provide reasonable assistance to customers in completing the migration
- They must cooperate with the source provider during the transition
- They must not create barriers to customers who subsequently want to switch away
Practical Preparation for Cloud Providers
Now (before September 2025):
- Review standard contracts for void lock-in provisions and remove them
- Build or confirm a structured data export capability in a standard format
- Establish a switching support process — how you handle migration requests
- Disclose current egress fees in customer-facing materials
Before September 2027:
- Plan the elimination of egress fees for switching scenarios
- Update pricing models to separate switching data transfer from ongoing operational transfer
- Publish a clear egress fee phase-out timeline