Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Union (EU) is currently considering the introduction of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to regulate digital services and digital markets within the EU. However, there is another proposed regulation that has received less attention but could have a significant impact on data sharing and data governance in the EU: the Data Act.
The Data Act is a proposed regulation that aims to harmonize and modernize data protection and data sharing rules across the EU. The regulation would establish a common framework for data governance, making it easier for businesses and individuals to share data across borders and between sectors.
According to European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, “the Data Act is essential for the EU’s digital transformation. It will help us unlock the full potential of data in Europe and create a data-driven economy that benefits everyone.”
Under the proposed regulation, businesses and individuals would be able to share non-personal data more easily across borders and between sectors. This would facilitate the development of new services and products and boost innovation and growth in the digital economy.
The Data Act would also establish clear rules for data sharing and data governance, ensuring that businesses and individuals have confidence in the security and privacy of their data. The regulation would set out requirements for data protection, data access, data portability, and data interoperability, among other things.
The Data Act has received support from a wide range of stakeholders, including business groups, consumer organizations, and digital rights advocates. However, there are also concerns that the regulation could undermine data protection and privacy rights if not implemented properly.
According to MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs, Birgit Sippel, “while the Data Act has the potential to unlock the full potential of data in Europe, we must ensure that it is implemented in a way that protects the privacy and data protection rights of EU citizens.”
The EU is currently consulting with stakeholders on the proposed regulation, and a final version of the Data Act is expected to be published later this year. If adopted, the regulation could have a significant impact on data sharing and data governance in the EU, unlocking the full potential of data in Europe while ensuring that privacy and data protection rights are respected.
On this topic for the media MEP Alin MITUȚA (REPER, Romania), from Renew Europe´s shadow rapporteur on this file, declared:
“The huge amount of data expected to be generated by IoT devices can bring up to 400 billion in revenues by 2025 to the European economy and it is an enormous opportunity for our companies, including SMEs, to boost their innovation and competitiveness. Our biggest challenge in opening access to data was to strike the right balance between the obligations we are imposing on companies to make data available on one side and the protection of their trade secrets on the other. This goal was the backbone of our work. Moreover, through our proposals, we also managed to put users at the center of the data economy, by empowering them to get more access and to monetize the data they generated.”
