Compare data center regulation

Maximum 10 months from the completeness check, extendable once by at most 3 months in exceptional cases; EIA deadlines halved; one application covers AIA, EIA, landscape, water, emissions and planning consents. In force 21 Feb 2026; converted with amendments by L. 10 April 2026 n. 49 (text in force from 19 Apr 2026).

A data centre and its grid connection get one combined permit from the integrated-environmental-permit (AIA) authority within at most 10 months, with environmental-impact deadlines halved.

Legislative decrees within 6 months of entry into force; principles include simplified EIA/AIA, derogations from urban-planning rules, energy self-generation, waste-heat recovery via district heating and contributions to host municipalities. Senate: in committee (last update 23 Jun 2026).

If enacted, the Government would have 6 months to adopt decrees giving data centres simplified EIA/AIA procedures, derogations from local planning rules and support for on-site generation and waste-heat reuse in district heating.

Reduced accise rate on the electricity a data centre consumes above 1 GWh/yr, conditional on an ISO 50001 energy-management system (with further relief for electro-intensive sites).

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Lowers the cost of building or running a data center here (tax breaks, cheaper power, grants). A siting incentive: pulls investment in rather than constraining it.

L.236-1: installed server-room power ≥500 kW → transmit administrative, environmental and energy data to the EU platform and make it public. L.236-2: ≥1 MW → valorise waste heat (derogations by decree). L.236-3: formal notice of at most 1 year, then an administrative fine of at most €50,000 per data centre. Created by loi n° 2025-391 of 30 Apr 2025; most provisions in force 1 Oct 2025.

A site with ≥500 kW of server-room power must publish its energy and environmental data; from 1 MW it must reuse its waste heat, with fines of up to €50,000 per data centre for non-compliance.

Declaration within 2 months of commissioning; administrative, environmental and energy information for the previous year by 15 May each year; deemed to valorise waste heat if ERF (Annex III of Delegated Reg. 2024/1364) ≥ 0.20, with a cost-benefit/derogation route for sites where it is not attainable. In force 1 Jan 2026.

A new site must be declared within 2 months of commissioning and report every year by 15 May; it only counts as reusing waste heat if its ERF is at least 0.20.

Amends art. 167 of loi de finances 2021: criteria go from seven to nine (valorise waste heat, e.g. via a heating/cooling network, or meet a numeric efficiency indicator set by decree; and meet a cooling-water indicator set by decree). A Senate report of Feb 2026 still called for the implementing decree.

To keep the reduced electricity excise rate, a data centre will have to reuse its waste heat or meet a decree-set efficiency indicator, and meet a cooling-water indicator.

Qualification by decree where the project's purpose and scale (investment, installed power) matter for the digital or ecological transition or national sovereignty; effect limited to a State-led planning-compatibility procedure. ZAN exemption censured (Décision 2026-903 DC, 21 May 2026). Law of 26 May 2026.

A large data centre can be designated a project of major national interest by decree, letting the State align local planning documents with it; it does not by itself grant an environmental derogation.

Revenue ≥ €10M or installed IT power ≥ 100 kW (reduced set for 100–500 kW operators under €10M); energy by use, water withdrawals, artificialised land, refrigerant emissions and GHG for the previous year, due 31 March. Replaces Décision 2023-2488; published in the JO on 14 Mar 2025.

Operators with French revenue ≥ €10M or IT power ≥ 100 kW must report energy, water, land take, refrigerants and GHG data to Arcep by 31 March each year.

63 identified sites; 'Guide pour l'implantation de centres de données' (Nov 2025); support via DREETS, regional development agencies and prefectures.

Developers can target 63 pre-identified sites and get support from prefectures, DREETS and regional development agencies; ADEME can co-fund heat recovery.

5 fast-track sites (4 allocated to operators meeting technical and financial requirements); shared zones of about 1,200 MW (south Île-de-France) and 500 MW (Marseille area); procedure approved by CRE.

Fast-track sites next to the 400 kV grid and shared connection zones (~1,200 MW south of Île-de-France, ~500 MW near Marseille) shorten connection times and pool network costs.

Refund/exemption of the CO2 levy in exchange for a legally-binding emissions-reduction/energy-efficiency target (administered via act/EnAW).

Can cut operating cost: a site that signs a binding emissions-reduction / efficiency target can have the CO₂ levy on its fossil fuels (e.g. backup or heating fuel) refunded. It is an opt-in exemption, not an efficiency ceiling such as a PUE limit.

≥500 kW installed IT power; first by 15 May 2024, then yearly by 15 May; defence and civil-protection data centres exempt; trade secrets excluded.

Owners and operators of data centres with ≥500 kW installed IT power must publish, on their own website and every year by 15 May, their area, power, data traffic and KPIs on energy, temperature setpoints, waste-heat use, water use and renewables.

Siting priority for disused/brownfield areas; high-efficiency cooling and reduced drinking-water use; waste-heat recovery via district heating; environmental and territorial compensation for municipalities; uniform procedures with fixed timelines. Law number, thresholds and BURL publication not verified.

Projects in Lombardy are steered to brownfield or disused land, expected to use efficient, low-drinking-water cooling and district-heat reuse, and must fund environmental and territorial compensation for host municipalities.

Non-binding guidelines: priority to disused, brownfield or regeneration areas; energy autonomy; landscape and environmental protection. DGR number not found.

Municipalities assessing a data-centre application follow regional guidance favouring disused, brownfield or regeneration sites and energy self-sufficiency; non-binding, but it shapes early site selection.

Deliberation of 20 Oct 2023 'Stratégie municipale pour une implantation planifiée et régulée des câbles sous-marins et des data centers'; criteria: already artificialised, polluted or disused land; land and marine biodiversity; link with renewable production and heat recovery; local employment; architectural quality. A consultative commission reviews projects; the city states it has no decision power over subsea cables.

Projects in Marseille are assessed by a municipal consultative commission against siting criteria (brownfield or already-artificialised land, biodiversity, renewables and heat recovery, local jobs, urban integration); the criteria are not binding, as planning powers sit with the Métropole.

>0.5 ha only in the special zone; >3 ha only where a §11c state ordinance exists (it lapses if not zoned within 5 years, extendable by up to 3); 500 m aggregation; power supply and waste-heat use must be considered. In force 9 Jun 2026 (LGBl. 38/2026).

In Lower Austria, a data centre over 0.5 ha can only be built on land zoned 'Sondergebiet-Rechenzentrum'. Zoning over 3 ha needs a prior state site ordinance, which must secure power supply and consider waste-heat use. Facilities within 500 m of each other count together.

Nominal total energy input >1 MW; exemption only via a §7 CBA showing technical or economic infeasibility. Current version in force 17 Jul 2026 (LGBl. 28/2026).

Existing Vienna data centres over 1 MW must use their waste heat or other heat recovery, unless a cost-benefit analysis shows it is not feasible. Operators can apply for a formal finding that no obligation applies.

>1 MW nominal total energy input; CBA when new or substantially modernised. In force 1 Apr 2026 (LGBl. 29/2026).

Data centres over 1 MW in Upper Austria must use their waste heat unless a cost-benefit analysis shows it is infeasible. The CBA is mandatory for new or substantially modernised data centres.

>1 MW nominal total energy input. In force 30 Dec 2025 (LGBl. 105/2025).

Data centres over 1 MW in Burgenland must use their waste heat unless a cost-benefit analysis proves it infeasible. The CBA is required when new or substantially modernised.

Nominal total energy input >1 MW; new builds and substantial modernisation. In force 31 Mar 2026.

A new or substantially modernised Tyrolean data centre over 1 MW must assess waste-heat use and district-heating/cooling connection in a cost-benefit analysis that also covers heat-capturing cooling designs.

Nominal total energy input >1 MW; new builds or substantial modernisation. Version in force from 18 Sep 2026.

Building or substantially modernising a Vorarlberg data centre over 1 MW requires an assessment of waste-heat use and district-heating/cooling connection, including heat-capturing cooling solutions.