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Artifact GuideEUData Act

EU Data Act Cloud Switching and Exit Plans

Build a cloud exit plan for Data Act data processing services: what the contract must say, what data and can move, what assistance is owed, and what evidence proves the switch was not obstructed.

Focused on Chapter VI switching duties, the charge phase-out, technical export and interoperability rules, in-parallel use, and the Commission's non-binding cloud contract clauses.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 6, 2026
Updated
Oct 15, 2026
6 sections4 primary sources
Overview

The Data Act has applied since 12 September 2025. Providers and customers can use this Chapter VI contract-and-operations checklist to plan an exit from a cloud or other covered . The source provider must meet its switching duties but is not responsible for rebuilding the customer's destination environment.

Section 1

Start with the covered service and switching route defined by the Data Act

Chapter VI has applied since 12 September 2025 to providers of data processing services and their customers. The exit file should identify the source service, whether the customer is moving to another provider of the same service type, moving to on-premises ICT infrastructure, using providers in parallel, or choosing erasure at termination.

Article 23 requires providers to remove pre-commercial, commercial, technical, contractual, and organisational obstacles that inhibit switching, conclusion of a replacement contract, porting of and , where applicable, or technically feasible unbundling.

  • Record the source provider, customer, destination provider or on-premises target, service type, contract identifier, and requested switching action.
  • Separate a true switch from in-parallel use because Article 34 allows egress charges for parallel use only to pass on incurred egress costs.
  • Check whether most main features were custom-built for one customer's specific needs, or all components were developed for one customer, and the service is not offered at broad commercial scale. Article 31(1) removes only Article 23(d), Article 29, and Article 30(1) and (3); the rest of Chapter VI still applies.
  • Check separately for a non-production service supplied only for testing and evaluation for a limited period. Article 31(2) excludes that service from all Chapter VI duties, and Article 31(3) requires the provider to identify the inapplicable duties before contracting.
  • Do not promise until the plan confirms the service type and whether Article 30 infrastructure-service rules apply.
Section 2

Put the switching terms required by the Data Act into the cloud service contract

Article 25 requires the customer's switching rights and the provider's obligations to be clearly set out in a written contract that the customer can store and reproduce before signing. An exit plan should therefore start from the signed contract, not from a separate policy page that the customer cannot enforce.

The contract needs more than a termination clause. It must cover the customer's right to switch or port and , provider assistance, business continuity, known continuity risks, security during transfer and retrieval, the notice period, retrieval period, erasure, and any allowed .

  • Include a maximum notice period for initiating switching that does not exceed two months.
  • Include a mandatory maximum transitional period of 30 calendar days starting after the maximum notice period, unless the provider notifies and justifies technical unfeasibility within 14 working days of the switching request and proposes an alternative period not exceeding seven months.
  • Give the customer the right to extend the transitional period once for a period the customer considers more appropriate.
  • Include a minimum data-retrieval period of at least 30 calendar days after the transitional period ends.
  • Include full erasure of and customer-generated or customer-related after retrieval expires, or after a later agreed date if the switch completed successfully.
Section 3

Inventory exportable data, digital assets, and provider-side exclusions for Data Act switching

The useful exit inventory is an exhaustive specification of the data and digital asset categories that can be ported during the switch, including at least all . Exportable data means input and output data, including metadata, directly or indirectly generated or cogenerated through the customer's use, except provider or third-party material protected by intellectual property rights or trade secrets. are digital elements, including applications, that the customer has a right to use independently of the service contract being exited.

The inventory should also identify provider-internal data categories excluded because export would risk disclosing trade secrets, provided the exclusion does not impede or delay switching.

Article 26 adds an information layer: providers must tell customers the available switching and porting procedures, methods, formats, restrictions, and known technical limitations. Providers must also maintain an up-to-date online register with data structures, data formats, relevant standards, and open interoperability specifications for .

  • For each export category, record format, schema or data structure, delivery method, validation check, destination dependency, and known restriction.
  • List separately from data so configuration artifacts, metadata, deployment materials, and logs are not hidden in a generic data-export label where they are exportable.
  • Identify provider-internal exclusions and the trade-secret or security reason for each exclusion.
  • Link the contract to the provider's current online register and keep a dated copy or evidence snapshot used for the exit.
  • Record how the source provider, customer, and destination provider cooperated in good faith to transfer data on time and maintain service continuity.
Section 4

Control switching charges and customer-facing fee disclosures the Data Act regulates

The Data Act phases out for data processing services. From 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027, providers may impose reduced switching charges, but those charges may not exceed costs directly linked to the switching process. From 12 January 2027, providers may not impose switching charges on the customer for the switching process.

Before entering into a contract, providers must give clear information on standard service fees, early termination penalties, and reduced that may be imposed during the phase-out period. Where relevant, providers must also identify services with highly complex, costly, or materially disruptive switching.

  • Keep a charge register showing each proposed switching charge, cost basis, period covered, and whether it is still permitted under Article 29.
  • Separate standard service fees and early termination penalties from so the exit record does not relabel switching costs.
  • Publish or otherwise make easily accessible the required charge and complex-switching information where Article 29 applies.
  • For in-parallel use, record any data egress charge separately and show that it only passes on incurred egress costs.
Section 5

Define the technical commitments for functional equivalence and interoperability

Article 30 distinguishes infrastructure-only services from other data processing services. For scalable and elastic computing resources limited to infrastructure elements, the source provider must take all reasonable measures in its power to help the customer achieve in a destination service of the same type. That support includes capabilities, information, documentation, technical support, and appropriate tools.

For other data processing services, providers must make open interfaces available free of charge to customers and destination providers. Compatibility becomes mandatory at least 12 months after references to the relevant common specifications or harmonised interoperability standards are published in the central Union repository. Until those references are published for a same-service-type switch, customers can request all in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

  • Classify whether the service is infrastructure-only under Article 30(1) or another under Article 30(2)-(5).
  • For infrastructure services, document the capabilities, information, documentation, technical support, and tools provided to support .
  • For other services, record the open interfaces made available and whether a relevant common specification or harmonised standard has been published in the central Union standards repository.
  • Do not require the provider to develop new technology, disclose protected intellectual property or trade secrets, or compromise service security and integrity.
Section 6

Keep an evidence pack that proves the Data Act exit and switching were supported

The cloud exit file should show that the provider removed obstacles, gave the required contract and technical information, maintained continuity and security during the switch, supported retrieval, and completed erasure when required.

The evidence should be usable by legal, procurement, engineering, security, support, and account teams. Avoid relying only on ticket comments: preserve the contract terms, export register, handoff records, charge rationale, and customer acceptance evidence together.

  • Contract evidence: signed switching clauses, pre-signing copy availability, notice date, selected route, transition period, retrieval period, erasure clause, and customer extension if used.
  • Export evidence: data and digital asset inventory, provider online register snapshot, formats, schemas, interfaces, restrictions, exclusions, transfer logs, and customer validation result.
  • Operational evidence: assistance provided, support contacts, continuity-risk notices, security controls during transfer and retrieval, incident notes, and destination-provider coordination.
  • Fee evidence: standard service fees, early termination penalties, reduced switching-charge calculation if used, public or customer-facing charge disclosures, and egress-cost record for in-parallel use.
  • Closure evidence: termination notice, retrieval completion, erasure confirmation, unresolved exceptions, trade-secret or security limitations, and final customer communication.
Recommended next step

Build a Data Act exit evidence pack

Use the switching contract, export inventory, charge register, interoperability check, and closure records as one reviewable file for cloud exit planning.

Research workflow
Open Research Copilot

Answer Data Act scope and cloud switching questions with cited outputs.

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Talk to Sorena
Talk through implementation

Review the service scope, switching clauses, export records, and support model for a Data Act exit plan.

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Primary sources

References and citations

Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act)
eur-lex.europa.eu7 citations
Referenced sections
  • Binding source for Data Act Chapter VI switching duties, Article 34 in-parallel use, Article 35 interoperability, Article 41 model terms, and related timing and charge rules.
  • Articles 23, 24, 31, 34, and 50 define the application date, switching routes, technical-scope limits, the two distinct Article 31 regimes, and in-parallel-use treatment.
  • Article 25 lists the mandatory written contract content for switching, transitional periods, retrieval, erasure, assistance, continuity, and security.
Show 4 more
  • Articles 25 and 26 support the export inventory, exempted provider-internal categories, format information, technical limitations, and online register requirements; Article 27 requires all parties to cooperate in good faith.
  • Articles 29 and 34 support the switching-charge phase-out, pre-contract fee information, complex-switching disclosures, and in-parallel egress-cost rule.
  • Articles 30 and 35 support the technical switching rules, standards trigger, structured export fallback, and limits for intellectual property, trade secrets, security, and integrity.
  • Articles 23-31 and 34-35 provide the legal basis for the exit evidence categories: obstacle removal, contract content, information, charges, technical support, interoperability, retrieval, and erasure.
European Commission - Data Act explained
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu3 citations
Referenced sections
  • Commission explainer for the Data Act's cloud-market switching purpose, application context, and charge-removal overview.
  • Commission overview explaining that the Data Act increases fairness and competition in the European cloud market.
  • Commission overview confirms the cloud switching charge phase-out and the later removal of switching charges.
European Commission - Model Contractual Terms and Cloud Standard Contractual Clauses
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu3 citations
Referenced sections
  • Commission publication of 19 November 2025 for voluntary model contractual terms and non-binding standard contractual clauses for cloud computing contracts.
  • Commission publication of 19 November 2025 containing voluntary model terms and cloud standard contractual clauses, including Switching and Exit, Termination, and Security and Business Continuity clauses.
  • The Commission's 19 November 2025 cloud clauses are non-binding drafting support for contract evidence, not a substitute for the binding Data Act text.
CEN and CENELEC - Data Act standardization request accepted
cencenelec.eu2 citations
Referenced sections
  • Standardization source for Data Act-related interoperability, portability, and switchability deliverables.
  • Standardization update supporting the operational need to track Data Act interoperability, portability, and switchability deliverables.

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