THE DATA CENTRE INTERVIEW
For most organisations operating at scale in the European data centre market, regulation is something to be managed, contained and, where possible, minimised. CyrusOne’ s European General Counsel, Alanna Hasek, sees it differently. In her view, the ability to read the regulatory landscape early – and to help shape it – is one of the clearest competitive advantages available to operators willing to invest the time and resources. Alanna joined CyrusOne approximately 18 months ago, having previously worked as a partner at an international law firm. She now leads the legal function across Europe, covering everything from legislative horizon scanning to land acquisitions and finance raising. It is, as she readily acknowledges, a wide-ranging brief.
“ I always say that my job has kind of been a jack-of-all-trades,” she says,“ because I basically cover and run the legal team across Europe, really supporting CyrusOne on absolutely everything it’ s looking at – whether that’ s legislative changes, where regulation’ s going or also supporting on strategic projects that we’ re looking at, so land acquisitions, finance raising, etc.”
Compliance remains the foundation, but opportunity lies beyond it The instinct to view regulation through the lens of compliance is understandable and, Alanna argues, not without merit. The volume and complexity of legislative change facing European data centre operators – spanning EU-wide directives, national frameworks and region-specific requirements – means that maintaining basic compliance is itself a demanding
“ We’ re starting to see regulation that people are putting in place to try and actually incentivise data centre developers and operators”
Alanna Hasek European General Counsel CyrusOne
exercise. The cost of falling short, whether in fines or reputational damage, remains a real concern. But the picture has become more nuanced. Alanna points to recent developments in France and Italy as evidence that national governments are beginning to position data centres as infrastructure critical to economic growth, and are designing regulation accordingly.
“ There have been some quite positive regulatory developments for the sector,” she says.“ We’ ve recently seen in France and Italy a movement from national governments in particular, seeing data centres as the backbone of the digital economy, and something which is really important for national growth. We’ re starting to see regulation that people are putting in place to try and actually incentivise data centre developers and operators to come to those markets, and to streamline some of the processes – whether that’ s permitting processes or regulatory frameworks around power.”
22 July 2026