The European Union is considering loosening some of its climate rules for data centres, in response to pressure from the technology industry to build the infrastructure needed for artificial intelligence more quickly.
Why data centres matter
AI models require enormous computing power, provided by data centres — buildings full of servers that consume large amounts of electricity and, often, water for cooling. As demand for AI grows, technology companies want to expand capacity in Europe rapidly, and the EU has set the goal of significantly increasing the continent’s data centre capacity.
The rules on the table
Under the approach previously discussed by member states, data centres would be able to claim their electricity was clean only by buying renewable energy certificates matched in time and place to their actual consumption — meaning the clean electricity had to be produced at the same time and in the same area as the data centre was using it.
What the draft proposes
According to a draft reported by the Financial Times, the new approach would:
- weaken the planned rating system that would score data centres on their energy and water consumption;
- widen the certificates that can be used, allowing certificates from nuclear power as well as renewables.
Industry pressure
Large cloud and AI companies have lobbied the European Commission to drop or soften several requirements, arguing that strict rules would raise costs and slow down the rollout of AI services in Europe, leaving the continent further behind the United States and China.
The criticism
Energy analysts and environmental groups warn that certificates do not necessarily reduce real emissions. If a data centre draws electricity from a grid that still depends partly on gas, buying certificates generated elsewhere or at other times shifts responsibility on paper without changing what is actually burned. Strict time and location matching, they argue, is what pushes companies to invest in new clean generation.
The inclusion of nuclear is also contentious: nuclear power is low-carbon, but some member states oppose it for reasons of cost, waste and safety.
The dilemma
The debate reflects a wider tension in European policy between competitiveness and climate goals. Supporters of flexibility argue that Europe cannot afford to lose the AI race. Critics say that weakening the rules would undermine the EU’s climate targets and that data centres should be required to bring new clean energy onto the grid.
Member states are due to discuss the draft, and the final rules may still change.
