Published on : [ 18-01-2025 ]
Article 1
Scope
The scope of this Directive includes data centers as defined in article 321 of Law 4442/2016 (hereinafter and for the purposes of this "data centers").
Article 2
Competent Authority
The competent authority for the implementation of this Directive shall be the competent development agency of the Regional Unit in whose territorial jurisdiction the data centre is located, if any, otherwise the competent authority shall be the competent development agency of the Region in whose territorial jurisdiction the centre is located.
Article 3
Notification procedure and content
1. The start of operations of data centres shall require prior notification in accordance with the Annex. The notification shall contain the information necessary for the activity carried out and shall be submitted by the data centre operator, which shall have sole responsibility for the data contained therein.
2. The notification shall be submitted to the competent authority referred to in Article 2 exclusively through the Integrated Information System for the Exercise of Activities and Controls (I.P.S.-A.D.E.) of Article 14 of Law 4442/2016. Until the activation of OPS-A.D.E. Regarding the part concerning the notification of data centers, the notification is submitted through the electronic system www.notifybusiness.gov.gr, which is accessible through the Single Digital Portal of the Public Administration (gov.gr - APC), if technically possible. Otherwise, the notification shall be submitted in paper or electronic form to the competent authority referred to in Article 2 with authentication as to the authenticity of the signature if it is not lodged by the data centre operator in person.
3. When the notification is submitted electronically through OPS-A.D.E. or the www.notifybusiness.gov.gr system, receives a unique number and time stamp, which are generated by the system. The file with the unique number serves as proof of submission of the notification and does not require registration.
4. Where the notification is submitted on paper:
(a) The competent authority referred to in Article 2 shall receive the notification in each case and issue an acknowledgement of submission;
(b) the competent authority referred to in Article 2 assigns to the notification a unique serial number, which shall remain the same even when it changes, simply by adding a serial number for each change;
(c) the competent authority referred to in Article 2 shall inform the data centre operator without delay and by any appropriate means of the serial number received in its notification.
5. No supporting documents shall be submitted when the notification is submitted. The data centre operator shall keep the supporting documents and proof of submission of the notification at the data centre site in accordance with Article 4.
6. After submission of the notification, the operator may start operations of the data centre.
7. The competent authority referred to in Article 2 shall notify within five (5) working days at the latest the notification or its change as the case may be to the competent building authority, the competent environment service, the competent fire service, the competent water service of the Decentralized Administration, the General Secretary of Telecommunications and Post of the Ministry of Environment. Digital Governance, the National Telecommunications and Post Commission (E.E.T.T.), and any other service that in its judgment must be informed about the operation of the data center, in order to exercise the statutory controls. Within the above deadline, the notification or its change as the case may be is also notified to the Department of Statistics, Documentation and Reports of the Directorate of Energy Policies and Energy Efficiency of the Ministry of Environment and Energy for its actions within the framework of the European Statistical System as well as to the Municipality, in whose territorial jurisdiction the data center is located. Where the notification is submitted by means of an electronic system, the notification shall be made electronically through the system or by electronic mail without the need to issue a transmittal document for that purpose.
Article 4
Required supporting documents and file keeping
A. Before submitting the notification, the data centre operator shall have collected the following supporting documents:
1. Technical report of the competent legal engineer, which will show the installation locations of the electromechanical equipment, its type and power, as well as the total rated electrical power in kW of the information technology equipment (IT equipment) of the installation.
2. Certificate of main use area by a legally competent private engineer in accordance with para. 8 of article 107 of Law 4495/2017, which indicates the exact location of the property, the total area of the main space after its annexes, and in which it is explicitly confirmed that the space is legally existing - regarding the construction and use as a data center - and meets all the legal requirements of a main use space to operate as a data center, in accordance with the applicable Building and Building Regulation, the Fire Protection Regulation, the applicable general and special urban planning provisions, as well as the building requirements of article 330 of law 4442/2016 (A' 230), as added and in force by article 3 of law 5069/2023 (A' 193).
The above certificate shall be accompanied by:
I. Land use certificate from the relevant Building Service (YIOM).
II. Clear photocopies of all public documents on planning legality (building permit, revision or update of building permit, approval of small-scale building works, decision of exemption from demolition, legalization permit, certificate of completion of the procedure for inclusion in provisions of exemption from demolition, certificate of payment of 30% of the single special fine, etc.).
III. Clear copies of approved floor plans - sections of the area where the data center is to operate, in which all its spaces are depicted. If due to building specifications it is necessary to display additional data on the above approved drawings, it is possible to imprint them on the above copies under the responsibility of the private engineer or to draw up a new plan that will accompany the above copy. The copies of the approved floor plans come either from the information system for issuing building permits e-adeies, or from the information system for arbitrary declarations, or from the printed file of YIOM. depending on the type of legalization act of case H (electronic or printed).
3. Certificate of (active) fire protection of the relevant Fire Service, in accordance with the provisions of no. 13/2021 (B'5519) fire ordinance.
4. Solemn Declaration of Installer (M.D.E.) in force, in accordance with the provisions of no. 101195/17.9.2021 decision of the Minister of Development and Investments "General and special requirements for electrical installations" (B'4654).
5. Solemn declaration of commencement of operation of backup power plants accompanied by an Additional Interconnection Agreement for backup power generation, in accordance with the ministerial decision "Procedure and supporting documents for the commissioning of backup power plants" (B' 1976) under YPEN/ΔΗΕ/44608/534/22-05-2020.
6. Antenna construction license from the National Telecommunications and Post Commission (E.E.T.T.) or Electronic Declaration of Low Electromagnetic Environmental Nuisance Antenna Construction Installations (E.K.K.X.O.) to the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission, as appropriate, in accordance with Law 4635/2019, if required.
7. Solemn declaration of the competent engineer, according to para. 1 of article 50A of Law 4442/2016, that the traffic connection, or the entrance and exit of the facility was implemented in accordance with its approved plans, if required.
8. Decision for the Approval of Environmental Terms (A.E.P.O.) or decision to be subject to Standard Environmental Commitments (P.E.D.), if required.
9. Water use permit, if required.
10. Proof of payment of the fee referred to in Article 7.
11. In case the operator of the activity is a legal person not obliged to register in the General Commercial Registry (G.E.MI.), in addition, the following are required:
I. Certified copy of the current Articles of Association of the legal entity and its amendments.
II. Legal documents for the representation of the legal entity.
B. If the data center operator is a legal entity obliged to register with G.E.MI., it is not obliged to keep the supporting documents of per. 11 of para. A and the competent authority seeks ex officio, through the General Commercial Registry (G.E.MI.), the current statute of the legal entity and its legal representation.
C. The operator of the activity must keep at the data center a file with the required updated supporting documents, as well as the proof of submission of the notification, in order to make them available to the competent authorities in each case of control.
D. The operator of the activity is not relieved of obligations arising from the applicable legislation to obtain other licenses, approvals, supporting documents and compliance with conditions in general beyond the above.
Article 5
Change of notification
1. If the details of the data centre operational notification are to be changed, the operator shall be required to give prior notification of the intended change. The procedure to be followed for submitting the notification of the information to be changed shall be the same as the initial notification procedure described in Article 3.
2. Especially if the change consists of a change of the operator of the activity, in accordance with article 9 of Law 4442/2016, the old and the new data center entity shall each notify the change within ten (10) days of the change. The notification shall relate only to information on the data centre operator. The new entity is responsible in parallel with the old one for compliance with the applicable legislation from the time of acquisition of ownership or exploitation right until the competent authority is informed about the change. Approvals and other supporting documents issued in the name of the former operator and relating to the installation shall remain valid until their expiry, unless otherwise specified in the specific legislation.
3. In the event of closure of the data centre at the site where the activity takes place, the data centre operator shall give notice of closure. The submission of the closure notification shall follow the initial notification procedure set out in Article 3 accordingly.
4. In the event of a change in the location of the data centre, the operator shall submit a new notification.
Article 6
Controls
After the submission of the operational notification or from the time when the obligation to submit it arose, the competent authority referred to in Article 2 and the other audit authorities may, by reason of competence, carry out audits to monitor the compliance of the data center operator with the requirements of Chapter ΜΓ' of Law 4442/2016 and the present. The competent authority shall inform the operator, in writing and/or electronically, of the results of the check. During the audits, articles 127 to 157 of Law 4512/2018 (A' 5) apply. Until the adoption of the regulatory acts concerning articles 127 to 157 of Law 4512/2018, the audits are carried out in accordance with the applicable legislation.
Article 7
Deposit
1. For the submission of the initial notification of the data center, the prior payment of a fee is required in accordance with articles 11 and 326 of Law 4442/2016, which is set at the following amounts:
- €500 for total rated IT power of equipment equal to or greater than 200 kW and less than 400 kW,
- €1,000 for total rated IT power of equipment equal to or greater than 400 kW and less than 1,000 kW,
- €2,000 for total rated IT power of equipment equal to or greater than 1,000 kW and less than 2,000 kW,
- €4,000 for total rated IT power of equipment equal to or greater than 2,000 kW.
2. For the notification of a change of data center operator, the prior payment of a fee is required in accordance with articles 11 and 326 of Law 4442/2016, which is set at 50% of the fee of para. 1. The fee shall be paid by the new data centre operator.
3. For the notification of a data centre that has been put into operation before the entry into force of this Directive, in accordance with para. 1 of article 333 of law 4442/2016, the prior payment of a fee is required in accordance with articles 11 and 326 of law 4442/2016, which is defined as equal to the fee paid for the initial notification, according to the subheadings of par. 1 of this document.
4. The fee is paid for the purpose of managing notifications, managing information and carrying out controls related to notification, as well as the development of the MIS of article 14 of Law 4442/2016, its operation and maintenance.
5. A fee shall not be payable for notification of closure and for notification of change of information notified other than change of operator and place of activity.
6. The data centre operator shall pay the fee prior to the submission of the notification in order to complete the relevant field in the notification form and shall keep the proof of payment together with the other supporting documents on the data centre premises in accordance with Article 4.
7. 80% of the fee shall be collected in favour of the Local Government Organization responsible for notification and 20% in favour of the State budget, in order to cover relevant expenses of the General Secretariat for Industry of the Ministry of Development and Investments, in accordance with para. 1 b) Article 11 of Law 4442/2016. The amount in favour of the competent local authority is deposited in a special bank account and the amount in favour of the state budget appears in the Detailed Revenue Account (ALE) 1450113002, under the coded name "20% of the fees for the exercise of economic activity under notification and/or approval when competent authorities are designated local authorities". The operator of the activity obtains the fee electronically through the e-fee application, if the relevant feature has been activated.
8. The refund of any amounts unduly paid shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the joint decision of the Ministers of Finance and State under A.1047/12.03.2020 (B' 979).
Article 8
Infringements and scope of sanctions
1. In the event that an infringement is found regarding the notification of the present, the sanctions of article 328 of Law 4442/2016 shall be imposed against the operator of the activity, namely an administrative fine of one thousand (1,000) to twenty thousand (20,000) Euros.
2. In particular, fines shall be imposed on the following infringements:
(a) Failure to notify prior to the start of operation of the data centre (initial notification);
(b) failure to notify a change in data;
(c) failure to notify the change of operator;
(d) providing false or incorrect or incomplete information at the time of disclosure;
(e) lack of supporting documents referred to in Article 4, in the sense of the non-issue or invalidity of the supporting documents;
(f) Lack of supporting documents referred to in Article 4, which have been issued and are in force, but are not found in the data centre (non-keeping or improper keeping of a file), in violation of Article 4.
3. The competent authority for the imposition of sanctions shall be the Regional Governor of the Region concerned, in whose territorial jurisdiction the data centre is located.
Article 9 Entry into force
This Agreement shall enter into force two (2) months after its publication in the Government Gazette.