France: Passed Bill Securing and Regulating the Digital Space including measures regarding cloud sovereignty

On 17 October 2023, the National Assembly of France passed the Bill Securing and Regulating the Digital Space, including amendments related to clouding service providers. The amendments aim to strengthen trust and competition in the data economy and, define terms related to cloud computing services and set rules for interoperability and data portability between different providers. The amendment also introduces measures for protecting sensitive and strategic data hosted in the cloud, especially when used by state administrations or its operators. Furthermore, it imposes transparency obligations on cloud service providers, requiring them to publish information on jurisdiction over data processing, data protection measures, and the environmental footprint of their services. The Bill will now be submitted to a joint committee of the two Houses responsible for examining and proposing a text on the provisions that remain under discussion.