From 12 January 2027, a cloud provider can no longer charge for switching to another provider. This is Article 29 of the EU Data Act, which applies to infrastructure, platform and online software services, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace included. The regulation also sets deadlines: at most two months' notice, then at most thirty days to switch over, with the provider's help. A running subscription, however, is still due.
Providers' obligations
Since 12 September 2025, a cloud service contract must let the customer move to another provider or to its own servers. It must provide at least:
- a notice period of at most two months to start the switch
- a transition period of at most thirty days, during which the service continues and the provider helps the customer and the new provider
- the full list of data and assets the customer can take away
- the provider's support for the customer's exit strategy
flowchart LR A["Customer request"] --> B["Notice<br/>2 months at most"] B --> C["Transition<br/>30 days at most<br/>service maintained"] C --> D["End of contract"]
Switching charges, until 12 January 2027 and after
| Period | Switching charges allowed |
|---|---|
| 11 January 2024 to 11 January 2027 | Reduced charges, capped at the costs directly linked to the switch |
| From 12 January 2027 | Nothing |
Charges still due
The regulation defines switching charges as excluding standard service fees and early termination penalties. Three practical consequences:
- a running annual subscription, such as a one-year Microsoft 365 commitment, is still due until it ends
- everyday data traffic remains chargeable, only the exit is covered
- services custom-built for a single customer and trial versions are not covered by the fee ban
Before planning a move, check the end date of your subscription commitments. That date sets the timetable more than exit fees do.
Leaving Microsoft 365 under the Data Act
The cost of an exit rarely comes from transfer fees. It comes from copying time, sorting files, training and the running commitment. The Data Act settles part of the problem: the provider must let you leave with your data, within known deadlines, and free of charge from 2027.
Volume remains a practical constraint. Microsoft throttles copies out of OneDrive and SharePoint, so allow one to two weeks for 5 TB. A migration is therefore prepared a few months before the commitment ends: sorting, initial copy, pilot, then switchover. The method is on our Nextcloud page, and the costs in our article on the cost of leaving Microsoft 365.
To your own servers too
The regulation covers moving to another provider, but also moving back to infrastructure you own. A local authority or a company can take its files back onto a server rented in its own name, with the same exit rights as towards another cloud.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 on data, Articles 2, 23, 25, 29, 31 and 50, EUR-Lex
- Cloud switching under the EU Data Act, Deloitte Legal
- EU Data Act: when cloud switching fees are abolished, cloudmagazin, July 2026