As from 12 September 2025 the EU Data Act will apply (officially known as Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 that entered into force on 11 January 2024). The EU Data Act sets the rules and standards for data sharing, governance and reuse in the EU and regulates in particular the technical and legal / contractual aspects of switching to another (data processing service) provider.
Article 25 EU Data Act requires several mandatory contractual clauses on switching to be included, such as clauses allowing customers to switch to another provider, provision of migration or switching assistance, notice period for the customer, information obligations with regard to continuity risks, machine-readable formats, export tools, the transition period, the categories of data to be exported, periods for data retrieval and the switching charges.
Providers of data processing services must take all (technical) measures to enable customers to switch smoothly, without any obstacles or (contractual) barriers.
For migration or switching charges the EU Data Act includes a gradual withdrawal. Charging is only possible until 12 January 2027 and under strict conditions (they must be transparent, non-discriminatory etc.). As from 12 January 2027 switching charges are forbidden.
No time to waste. Companies should review existing SaaS, cloud or IT agreements and in particular the clauses about exit, migration, transition or switching to another provider.
