Major US technology companies, including Microsoft, successfully lobbied the European Union to hide the environmental impact of data centers. A confidentiality clause was added to the EU Energy Efficiency Directive to keep individual energy and water use metrics secret.
Documents reveal the EU adopted the clause nearly verbatim from demands by Microsoft and trade group DigitalEurope. DigitalEurope represents industry giants including Amazon, Google, and Meta.
The change ensures only aggregated national-level data becomes public. This prevents detailed scrutiny of individual facilities as AI growth increases their environmental toll.
Legal scholars warn the secrecy provision may violate EU transparency laws. The clause may also breach international conventions regarding access to environmental information.