Finnish regulators have ordered Google to suspend all preparatory work on two planned data centres by 23 October, pending completion of environmental impact assessments, barely after the company committed €13 billion to AI infrastructure in the country.

The Finnish Licencing and Supervision Agency (LVV) issued the notice to Google subsidiary Tuike Finland Oy, instructing it to stop work on the projects in the Kajaani and Muhos regions "until the environmental impact assessment procedures for the projects have been completed".

The intervention follows reports that extensive site preparation had already been carried out before the statutory review process ran its course.

What did the regulator find on site?

Tommi Muilu, head of the LVV's environmental department, said available reports showed substantial preparatory work had already taken place at both locations, including:

• removal of trees and topsoil
• construction of site roads and storage areas
• alterations to ditches and culverts
• stormwater works

"In our opinion, the measures in question will change the environment and cause impacts, the identification and assessment of which are among the key objectives of the EIA procedure," Muilu stated.

What does the suspension cover?

The order bars a defined set of ground-disturbing activities at the sites. These include:

• tree and topsoil removal
• excavation, quarrying and crushing
• transfer of soil masses
• drainage
• construction of site roads and storage areas

Low-impact activities remain permitted. Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other measures with minor impacts that can be easily restored fall outside the suspension, leaving Google some room to keep the projects moving on paper while the assessments proceed.

The deadline for compliance is 23 October.

How has Google responded?

The company accepted the regulator's position. "We understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance," a Google representative told CNBC, adding that Google will follow the LVV's guidance.

The admission that its own standards were not met separates the commercial narrative from the operational reality on the ground. Google announced the €13 billion commitment as its largest single outlay in Europe, a package that extends beyond the two data centres to include AI facilities, nuclear power and renewable energy.

Why the EIA matters here

Finland's environmental impact assessment procedure exists precisely to identify and evaluate environmental changes before they happen, not after. By carrying out drainage, quarrying and road construction in advance of the completed assessment, the projects undermined the sequencing the procedure requires, in the regulator's view. The LVV's position is that the works already performed produce exactly the kind of environmental impacts the assessment is designed to surface.

The case is a reminder that even the largest single foreign investment in Finnish digital infrastructure sits inside an ordinary permitting regime, with the same environmental review obligations as any other construction project.

Google has not publicly disputed the factual basis of the regulator's findings. With the suspension in force until the EIA procedures are completed, the timeline for resuming ground works at Kajaani and Muhos now depends on how quickly those assessments conclude.