(fra kommisjonsforordningen)

(1) The energy consumption of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector is becoming increasingly significant in the Union and globally. The electricity demand of data centres is expected to exceed 3% of the Union total by 2030, a doubling compared to 2023.
(2) The Union’s digital strategy highlights the need for highly energy-efficient and sustainable data centres and calls for transparency measures regarding their environmental footprint.
(3) Directive (EU) 2023/1791 addresses energy efficiency by setting energy efficiency targets at Union level and establishing a common framework of measures to promote energy efficiency within the Union. Moreover, Directive (EU) 2023/1791 aims to contribute to achieving a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy in the Union, including by putting in place a common Union scheme for rating the sustainability of data centres.
(4) Pursuant to Article 12 of Directive (EU) 2023/1791, Member States are to require owners and operators of data centres to make publicly available the information regarding their data centres set out in Annex VII to that Directive.
(5) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 set up a reporting scheme for the sustainability of data centres and defined the first set of key performance indicators, measurement methodologies and sustainability indicators. 

(6) It also introduced the European database on data centres, referred to in Article 12 of Directive (EU) 2023/1791. That database provides a common user interface as well as a common application programming interface for data centres to communicate the information and key performance indicators set out in Annexes I and II of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364.
(7) The database allows national competent authorities to verify which data centres communicated information and key performance indicators as well as the quality of those reports before submitting the data to the European Commission. The database also aims to serve as one of the main data sources for the reporting of energy consumption in data centres established by Regulation (EC) 1099/2008.
(8) The database became operational in September 2024, and two reports, in 2024 and 2025, have so far been accomplished. The first reports have allowed the Commission to assess the reporting scheme and propose changes and improvements to the scheme.
(9) To ensure better quality and consistency of the information and key performance indicators communicated to the European database, the user interface of the database should implement logical and conditional checks. These should be accompanied by warning messages and recommendations that should guide users in avoiding identified errors. The Commission should communicate a list of all these checks to Member States, so that such checks shall be performed by the national reporting schemes, in case such a scheme exists in a Member State, before submitting the data and key performance indicators to the European database.
(10) A common Union rating scheme for data centres, through the introduced label, can provide reliable and transparent information on data centres in the Union, classify them based on this information, and allow for evidence-based comparisons among data centres that are located in the same area, or have similar characteristics. It gives visibility to good practices and promotes new designs or appropriate efficiency interventions in new or existing data centres that can reduce energy and water consumption, promote the use of low-emission energy, increase the efficiency of the grid, or promote the reuse of waste heat in nearby facilities and heat networks.
(11) To ensure that no additional burden is put on Member States and data centre operators, data centres should be rated by means of electronic labels generated automatically by the reporting platform, based on the information and key performance indicators communicated by data centre operators to the European database in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364.
(12) To support Member States and users in making best use of the label, taking into full consideration national specificities such as climatic conditions, the label should be accompanied by a document contextualising the key performance indicators.
(13) To ensure transparency on the environmental footprint of data centres, the label for data centres should be made publicly available in electronic form to any physical or legal person requesting it.
(14) The indicators displayed on the label for data centres should be selected among those already communicated by data centre operators to the European database and identified as the most relevant ones for achieving the objectives of this Regulation, while also respecting trade and business secrets and confidentiality concerns.
(15) To ensure a simplified, consistent and high-quality reporting to the European database on data centres that will enable the creation of the label and standardise the use of indicators across policy initiatives, there is a need to amend some of the indicators and calculation methodologies in the reporting scheme introduced by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364.
(16) The need to amend Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 also stems from additional elements that the label should enable, such as reporting from small and under construction data centres and the opportunity for Member States to exercise their market surveillance functions in a reasonable time.
(17) To evaluate the effectiveness of the rating scheme, to follow future technological progress and to pursue high sustainability ambitions, this Regulation should be reviewed every three years.
(18) The Commission has consulted the experts designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 34 of Directive (EU) 2023/1791 and gathered observations on the scope and key elements of the common Union rating scheme set out in this Delegated Regulation.
(19) The Commission has consulted relevant stakeholders both via a public call for feedback and a series of public consultation activities that took place as part of a technical assistance project in 2025,