Microsoft and DigitalEurope, a lobby group representing Amazon, Google, and Meta, influenced EU law to include a secrecy provision regarding the environmental impact of individual data centers. Despite the EU aiming to triple its data center capacity in the next five years and collecting key metrics like energy efficiency and water consumption, information on individual facilities will remain confidential due to industry lobbying. This confidentiality clause, added to the 2024 legislation, classifies this data as commercially sensitive, blocking public access.
Legal scholars warn that this provision could violate EU transparency rules, particularly the Aarhus Convention which grants public access to environmental information. Professor Jerzy Jendrośka noted he couldn't recall a comparable case in two decades, while Luc Lavrysen, former President of the Belgian Constitutional Court, stated it is "clearly in violation" of EU rules. Kristina Irion of the University of Amsterdam echoed these concerns, criticizing the "sweeping presumption of confidentiality."
The European Commission's initial draft in December 2023 proposed publishing data in an aggregated form. However, Microsoft and DigitalEurope provided feedback in early 2024, suggesting an identical amendment to classify all individual data as confidential, preventing even freedom of information requests. The Commission adopted this proposed article almost word-for-word in March 2024. Consequently, only broad, national-level data is made public, keeping specific impacts of individual data centers from communities, academics, and journalists. The Commission's internal position is that making this information public might deter operators from reporting, despite only 36% of eligible data centers currently reporting, and only 80% of that data being deemed accurate. Investigate Europe's investigation, published with media partners in nine countries, highlighted that industry also pushed for other business-friendly carve-outs in EU regulations, including fast-tracked planning permissions.
This move comes as Europe anticipates €176 billion in data center investments over the next five years, fueling concerns about pollution and intense energy use. Bram Vranken from Corporate Europe Observatory called the Commission's decision to adopt Microsoft's amendment "shocking." Alex de Vries-Gao, a researcher at VU Amsterdam, noted that "public information is extremely limited," making it difficult to quantify the environmental footprint of AI. The investigation also revealed that Microsoft and Amazon have been actively lobbying for fast-tracked planning permission processes, including shortened deadlines for community consultation.
Separately, the build-out of data centers globally is booming, significantly driven by AI development. By 2030, worldwide installed data center capacity is projected to reach 220 gigawatts, a six-fold increase from 2020, according to McKinsey forecasts. The International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that data centers accounted for 1.5% of global electricity consumption in 2024 and forecasted this would more than double to 945 terawatt hours by 2030. McKinsey's forecast for 2030 is even higher at 1,400 terawatt hours, representing 4% of global consumption. The energy consumed by a single data center is considerable, often equivalent to 100,000 households, with larger facilities being up to 20 times bigger.
