The Development of Data Centers in France: When Growing Complexity Undermines the Promised Simplification
Adopted after two years of debate, the Economic Simplification Act marks an important milestone for the development of data centers in France. Presented as a catalyst through the creation of Projects of Major National Interest (PMNIs), the reform aims to streamline administrative procedures and facilitate access to the electricity grid. It is, however, not without tensions, as other legislative initiatives point to a risk of renewed complexity in the regulatory framework governing these strategic infrastructures.
The Simplification Act Establishes a New Framework for Strategic Data Centers
White smoke in the Senate. After two years of discussions, the
Economic Simplification Act was adopted by both houses of Parliament on 14 and 15 April 2026, on the basis of the text agreed upon by the Joint Parliamentary Committee in June 2025.
Although this legislation was the subject of intense debate and numerous additions across a wide range of issues, it is of particular interest to French data center operators and project developers.
Article 15 of the Economic Simplification Act stands as a symbol of the “simplification shock” sought by the French government to promote the development of large-scale data centers (in particular those dedicated to AI) across the country. This approach follows the announcement of €109 billion in private investments dedicated to the establishment of data centers in France,
announced by the President of the Republic at the AI Summit in February 2025.
This reform allows a data center project—by virtue of its purpose and scale, notably in terms of investment, installed capacity, or support for the emergence of competitive domestic ecosystems, and its particular importance for the digital transition, the ecological transition, or national sovereignty—to be designated as a “Project of Major National Interest” (PMNI) by decree of the Prime Minister.
This designation offers a double benefit for project developers: it enables simplified procedures for obtaining the administrative authorizations required for the construction of the data center (1), and access to a simplified procedure for connecting the data center to the electricity grid (2).
Streamlining Procedures for Obtaining the Administrative Authorizations Required for the Construction of a Data Center
In order to fully grasp the scope of the simplification, it is first necessary to understand the complexity of the initial situation.
The success of a data center project depends on the cumulative satisfaction of several criteria, including the identification and securing of a site that is (i) of an appropriate size and location, (ii) compatible with connection to the high-voltage electricity transmission network within a timeframe (and at a cost) consistent with the project, and (iii) compliant with the applicable urban planning regulations.
These numerous constraints explain why such sites are often referred to as “white elephants”, given their scarcity.
Against this backdrop, obtaining PMNI status could prove to be a game changer. A project developer benefiting from PMNI designation would be entitled to:
- subject to the approval of the mayor of the municipality in which the project is to be located, to a procedure enabling the alignment of the applicable urban planning documents governing the identified site (in particular, the local urban plan – plan local d’urbanisme, or PLU) with the implementation of the PMNI.
This compatibility procedure is particularly powerful, as—without prejudice to the formalities and consultations required by law—it ultimately grants the prefect the authority to amend the relevant urban planning documents.
When applied to a data center project, this mechanism would both expand the pool of sites suitable for the project’s development and shorten the timelines for obtaining the necessary urban planning authorizations, which could be filed as of the decision to initiate the compatibility procedure (rather than upon its completion).
- an exemption from the “net zero land take” principle set out in the Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021.
While these measures currently send positive signals to the data center industry, other legislative initiatives under review by Parliament appear less favourable.
In this regard,a legislative bill aimed at regulating the establishment of data centers in France was adopted by the Senate on 25 March 2026. This bill already proposes to:
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further complicate the procedure for granting PMNI status to a data center project by introducing a new mandatory prior consultation (to be organized at the project developer’s expense), involving the prefect, the host municipality, neighbouring municipalities concerned, and the competent intermunicipal public cooperation bodies;
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incorporate into the territorial coherence scheme (schéma de cohérence territoriale – SCOT) a specific policy and objectives document dedicated to data centers, intended to “set out strategic guidelines for the deployment of data centers that take into account territorial balance and integrate issues relating to the energy transition, attractiveness, and land consumption associated with these infrastructures.”
Access to the Simplified Procedure for Connecting the Data Center to the Electricity Grid
At present, connection to the electricity grid is a critical and decisive issue for the success of a data center construction project.
Indeed, despite France’s substantial electricity generation capacity resulting from its nuclear infrastructure, access to the high-voltage electricity transmission network is subject to significant congestion, leading to particularly high connection costs and lengthy connection timelines.
This strained context has prompted the State and regulatory authorities to implement measures aimed at (i) accelerating grid connections in order to maintain France’s attractiveness for energy-intensive industries and digital players (notably data centers), and (ii) relieving congestion in grid connection requests.
With respect to point (i), Article 15 of the Economic Simplification Act allows the developer of a data center project recognized as a PMNI to benefit from (i) a simplified electricity grid connection procedure, significantly reducing connection timelines, and (ii) the reservation, with RTE (France’s transmission system operator), of sufficient grid connection capacity to enable access to the network for the PMNI. This reservation is subject to the payment of a financial contribution intended to anticipate and cover the grid connection costs, the calculation method of which is to be determined by the Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission de régulation de l’énergie).
Regarding point (ii), we previously noted, in a previous article, that the solutions implemented by the Energy Regulatory Commission—consisting in reallocating unused electrical capacity from one operator to others—raise a number of legal and commercial complexities, as well as financial and competitive issues. Accordingly, beyond securing access to the electricity grid at an appropriate power level, data center operators must also be able to maintain such capacity over time.
In any event, it should be borne in mind that the announced measures represent a positive signal for the data center industry and reflect France’s ambitions in terms of digital sovereignty in the context of the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
Note: This article is based on the Economic Simplification Act adopted by both houses of Parliament on 14 and 15 April 2026. As of the date of publication, the Act has not yet been reviewed by the Constitutional Council, which was seized by more than sixty Members of Parliament pursuant to Article 61(2) of the French Constitution.
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