A cross-border investigation has revealed how industry lobbying is shaping data centre regulation in the EU.
Data centre operators successfully lobbied the European Commission to amend legislation intended to bring transparency to the continent’s booming data centre industry, a new investigation has revealed. Since 2024, the European Commission has collected key metrics like energy efficiency and water consumption from data centres. But much of this information is hidden from public view, after the industry successfully lobbied to classify it as confidential and commercially sensitive. The Journal Investigates has partnered with Investigate Europe and outlets across the continent to investigate the growing environmental impact of data centres. The investigation, led by Investigate Europe, has uncovered how Microsoft and DigitalEurope, a lobby group whose members include Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, led the charge to amend these new transparency rules. Legal experts from across Europe told our team they believe the confidentiality agreement could violate EU transparency rules, as well as the bloc’s obligations under the Aarhus Convention, an international treaty on access to environmental information. Part of these new European rules also requires data centre operators to monitor the energy performance of their data centres and to make this information publicly available at the national level. But Ireland has missed the first two reporting deadlines due to delays at the Department of the Environment in transposing the legislation. It also appears likely to miss the next reporting deadline, which is 15 May this year, with the legislation still not transposed. A spokesperson for the Department told The Journal Investigates that the drafting of the legislation has progressed to “an advanced stage”. A Microsoft spokesperson said they “support greater transparency around data centres”, adding that they are “taking further steps to increase openness, while protecting confidential business information.” DigitalEurope did not respond to a request for comment.
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