On 12 January 2027, the EU Data Act reaches its final step: a cloud provider will no longer be allowed to charge switching charges, data egress charges included, to a customer who leaves. The short answer: the law removes the fee, not the work. If your business depends on online software, now is the right time to write your exit plan, even if you have no intention of leaving.
Key points
- From 12 January 2027, switching charges, including data egress charges, are banned for the cloud services covered by the Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, Article 29).
- Until then, they are still allowed, but capped at the costs directly linked to the switch.
- Regular subscription fees and early termination penalties in a fixed-term contract are not covered: you still owe them.
- The text protects customers located in the Union; a Swiss SME with no company in the EU should check its contract.
- The “Digital Omnibus” now under discussion leaves the article on charges untouched in the Commission's proposal, and it has not been adopted.
What is happening: the Data Act and cloud switching charges
The Data Act, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 on data, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 December 2023 and has applied since 12 September 2025. Its Chapter VI covers “data processing services”: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platforms (PaaS) and online software (SaaS), as its recital 81 makes clear. A subscription ERP, CRM or email service is therefore in scope.
Article 29 phases the charges out in two steps. From 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027, a provider may still charge “reduced” switching charges, which must not exceed the costs directly linked to the switch. From 12 January 2027, it may charge none at all. The regulation defines these charges as those imposed for the actions needed to move to another provider or to your own servers, “including data egress charges”.
The text goes further than the invoice. Article 25 requires a written contract providing for a notice period of no more than two months to start the switch, a transition period of no more than thirty calendar days during which the service continues and the provider assists you, then at least thirty days to retrieve your data, and its full deletion afterwards. If thirty days are technically impossible, the provider must justify it within fourteen working days and propose another period, which may not exceed seven months. The contract must also list every category of data you will be able to take with you. Until common standards are published, the provider must export, on request, all your exportable data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (Article 30(5)).
Two exceptions matter (Article 31). Services whose main features are mostly custom-built for one customer, and which are not offered at broad commercial scale in the provider's catalogue, are exempt from the ban on charges. Time-limited trial versions are exempt from the whole chapter. In both cases, the provider must tell you before signing which obligations do not apply.
Then there is the “Digital Omnibus”. On 19 November 2025, the European Commission proposed to simplify several digital laws, including the Data Act. On cloud switching, its proposal lightens some obligations for custom-made services and for providers that are SMEs, where the contract was concluded on or before 12 September 2025, and clarifies that proportionate early termination penalties remain possible in fixed-term contracts. It expressly keeps Article 29 on charges. As of 10 November 2026, the European Parliament's procedure file shows the text awaiting a committee decision: nothing has been adopted and the text may still change.
What it changes for you
For an SME customer, the gain is real but limited. The egress fee disappears, as does any “exit assistance” invoice imposed without your agreement. However, the subscription is still due until the end of the contract, early termination penalties in a fixed-term contract remain possible, and services you request beyond the legal obligations may be charged if you agreed to the price in advance (recital 89). Above all, the law does not do the work for you: moving the history, finding the same features elsewhere, training the team, switching over without stopping operations. That is where the real cost of leaving lies, and often the real reason people stay.
Who does it apply to? The regulation covers providers, wherever they are established, that serve customers in the Union (Article 1(3)). A company established in the EU is therefore protected, whether its provider is European, American or Swiss. A Swiss SME contracting from Switzerland is not a “customer in the Union”: the Data Act is not Swiss law and guarantees it nothing as such. It will benefit if its provider applies the same terms to all its customers, or if its contract runs through a group company established in the EU. Either way, you check it in the contract, not in a press release.
What I learned from it
In August 2026, I left the online version of Odoo Enterprise, my ERP, for Odoo Community installed on my own server. I did not need the Data Act: the vendor let me download a full backup of the database from its interface. The hard part started afterwards: I tell the story in my migration case study.
I restored that backup on my side, kept an untouched copy as a safety net, and worked only on a second copy. The history came along: accounting, contacts, website pages, blog posts. But a full backup is not a ready-to-use database. Some features depended on the vendor's paid edition: I had to remove them without losing the data attached to them, rebuild fields created with its customisation tool, and give up an e-invoicing feature tied to its services. The migration took three days, followed by acceptance testing before switching the domains.
I came away with a list of what to check with a provider before signing, and the method below. It is the same approach I offer in the “Leaving a vendor” package on the Systems & infrastructure page.
What to do in practice
1. List your online services
List every piece of software or hosting you pay for by subscription, the company that invoices you and its country, and the contract end date. These columns tell you whether the Data Act protects you and when you can leave without a penalty.
2. Reread the exit clause
Look for the notice period, the transition period, the time allowed to retrieve your data, the list of exportable data, its format and the stated charges. A switching charge still written into the contract can no longer be billed to a customer in the Union from 12 January 2027; until then, it must match direct costs.
3. Test an export now
Download or request a full export, and open it. Does it include the history, the attachments, the settings? An export nobody has ever opened is not an exit plan.
4. Spot what will not move
Customisations made with the vendor's tools, proprietary modules, integrations: note what will have to be rebuilt or replaced. That is where the cost the law does not remove is hiding.
5. Write a cutover plan
An untouched safety copy, a working copy, parallel testing, a cutover date and a way back. One page is enough, as long as it exists before the day you need it.
Frequently asked questions
Will my provider still be able to charge me anything when I leave?
Yes: the subscription until the end of the contract, proportionate early termination penalties for a fixed-term contract, and any extra services you request at a price you accepted. But no more switching or data egress charges from 12 January 2027.
My company is in Switzerland: does this apply to me?
Not directly. The Data Act protects customers in the Union. Check whether your provider applies the same terms to all its customers, and get it confirmed in writing.
Will the Digital Omnibus push back the date?
The Commission's proposal of 19 November 2025 keeps Article 29 on charges. It is still under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council as of 10 November 2026; only the adopted version will count.
Going further
If you want to know what leaving your online software would really cost, and what to demand in your next contract, the “Leaving a vendor” package is described on the Systems & infrastructure page. The simplest way is to talk it through in a 20-minute call.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 of 13 December 2023 (Data Act), Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex), 22 December 2023: Articles 1, 2, 25, 29, 30, 31 and 50, recitals 81, 88 and 89.
- Data Act, European Commission, page accessed on 10 November 2026.
- Proposal for a “Digital Omnibus” regulation, COM(2025) 837, European Commission (EUR-Lex), 19 November 2025.
- Procedure file 2025/0360(COD), European Parliament Legislative Observatory, accessed on 10 November 2026.
Cover photo: 2H Media / Unsplash, Unsplash License (see the photo).
Tags: Data Act, cloud, switching charges, egress fees, ERP, Systems & infrastructure