Commissioner Breton's bid to boost data sharing among businesses and public bodies

The Commission hopes that this Proposal for a Regulation will enhance trust when it comes to the sharing of data among businesses, or between consumers and businesses, while at the same time lowering transaction costs. This proposal comes after a public online consultation that ran from February to May 2020 and elicited 806 contributions.

Led by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, the proposal will mark the first step in the EU data strategy, which has the ambitious goal of setting a new world standard for access to and reuse of data. It also comes after criticism that European companies have been slow to capitalise on the value of data in the digital economy.

Key Points in the Proposal

A leaked draft of the proposal, which may still be amended before publication, indicates that the forthcoming Act will include the following aspects:

• Remuneration: the proposal aims to boost the sharing of data among businesses. Data will be made available on a voluntary basis, unless required otherwise by law, and can be reused against remuneration or for free, depending on the data holder's decision.
• Sensitive data: a mechanism would be created to permit the reuse of public-sector data that is deemed "sensitive" because of personal data, commercial or statistical confidentiality or intellectual property rights. Public-sector bodies would be able to charge fees for the data.
• Trusted Intermediaries: the proposed Act would increase the sharing of data through trusted "intermediaries", which would act as clearinghouses between businesses and individuals. The aim is to enhance the ability of consumers to manage their data and enable them to share it for the common good in acts of "data altruism". Public hospitals, for example, could share data to help tackle public health emergencies, or individuals could donate data for scientific research.
• European Data Innovation Board: the proposed legislation will also set up a Commission-led expert group called the European Data Innovation Board, which would act as an advisory body and promote best practices for data sharing. Member States will be able to pick their representatives, and the Commission will also invite certain stakeholders to join the Board.
• FAIR approach: the instrument will build on the development of principles for data management and reuse developed for research data. The so-called FAIR data principles stipulate that such data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable. Furthermore, companies working on data-sharing initiatives with public bodies should act in an "open and collaborative manner" so that they don't acquire market power.
• Data processing limited to EU: Companies wishing to reuse public data under this Act would have to ensure they have "adequate safeguards" in place to avoid countries outside of the Union gaining access to such data. Certain conditions would apply, including limiting the processing of such data to the European Union. Furthermore, companies engaged in data sharing activities for the common good would also have to be legally established in the EU or the European Economic Area.

In summary, the planned instrument proposes an overarching legal framework for all common European data spaces. The forthcoming proposal is likely to raise issues regarding data localisation, given the requirement to limit data processing to the EU. It will also be judged on consistency with sector-specific rules that are either in place or in preparation in fields such as payment service providers, electricity network data and intelligent transport systems. Additionally, the Commission will have to be mindful of the need for the proposal to build on the existing legislation regarding personal data in the General Data Protection Directive and the forthcoming ePrivacy Regulation.

Next Steps 

On 9 November, the European Parliament's Industry Committee, which takes the lead on this dossier, will debate the Initiative Report on the data strategy by rapporteur Miapetra Kumpula-Natri. On the same day, draft Opinion Reports will be presented by Christel Schaldemose in the Internal Market Committee and Marina Kaljurand in the Civil Liberties Committee. In addition, Axel Voss will present his draft Opinion Report to the Legal Affairs Committee on 16 November and the Transport Committee is also due to be consulted. The votes on these reports are expected to take place in the first half of January. Meanwhile, the European Commission is due to present its proposal for a European Data Governance Act on 11 November TBC.

For further information contact Francine Cunningham.

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