Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) EU member states have reached agreement on new bloc-wide data rules, allowing EU Council and Parliament to negotiate proposed regulations.
The Council stressed in a statement released on Friday that the Data Act will give more control to companies and consumers over how their data may be used.
Erik Slottner, Swedish Minister for Public Administration, pointed out “today’s agreement will facilitate the digital transformation of our societies and economies.”
“The Data Act will unlock the economic and societal potential of data and technologies in line with EU rules and values,” he added and concluded “it will contribute to creating a single market to allow data to flow freely within the EU and across sectors for the benefit of businesses, researchers, public administrations, and society at large.”
The Council pointed out that new rules will apply to data generated in the EU and aim to “ensure fairness in the digital environment, stimulate a competitive data market, open opportunities for data-driven innovation and make data more accessible to all.”
Proposed changes
It noted that the European Commission’s proposed rules would allow public sector bodies to gain access to and use “data held by the private sector” in exceptional circumstances including public emergencies and implementation of legal mandates.
New rules would also prevent dominant market players from abusing their position to push through unfair data sharing contracts as well as allow users to access their data generated by connected devices, which is usually available only to manufacturers.
In addition, the proposal would allow consumers to switch between cloud service providers and introduce safeguards against illegal data transfers.
The Council reminded that the Data Act “is the second main legislative initiative resulting from the Commission’s February 2020 European strategy for data, which aims to make the EU a leader in our data-driven society.”
It stressed that new rules will clarify “who can create value from data and under which conditions” while facilitating data sharing by individuals, businesses and the public sector.
The Council concluded that the Data Act will help the bloc to become more competitive, prosperous and secure while protecting “the well-being of our societies.”