Moving towards a European data space: New EU law for data-sharing
Last month, the European Council
[https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/european-council/] and the
European Parliament [https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en] adopted
new rules for data sharing and reached a provisional agreement on
the Data Governance Act (DGA)
[https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020PC0767].

The Data Governance Act is the first legislative initiative of the
European data strategy
[https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/european-data-strategy_en],
which aims to make the EU a leader in a data-driven society allowing
data to flow freely within the EU and across sectors to benefit
citizens, businesses, and public administrations.

The DGA is a new law that will:

 	* PROMOTE REUSE OF PUBLIC-SECTOR DATA. This EU legislation will
facilitate safe and wide data-sharing of certain categories of
public-sector data, complementing the Open Data directive from 2019.
For instance, trade secrets, personal data, and data protected by
intellectual property rights. Protecting privacy and confidentially is
crucial here, public sector bodies will need to be technically
equipped to deal with these data securely. The Commission will also
set up a searchable electronic register of public-sector data,
accessible via national information points.
 	* CREATE A FRAMEWORK FOR DATA INTERMEDIATION. Companies and
individuals will benefit from this secure data-sharing environment in
order to boost new business models. This can take the form of a
digital platform for example, where voluntary, or mandatory (required
by law) data-sharing takes place. This is beneficial for companies as
it eliminates the fear of misuse of their data or loss of their
competitive advantage. For individuals, the services will help them to
have full control over their data and choose to share it only with a
company they trust through personal information management tools such
as personal data spaces or data wallets.
 	* ENCOURAGE DATA ALTRUISM FOR THE COMMON GOOD. Organisations that
collect data for a general interest, such as medical research, may
apply to be listed in a national register of recognised data altruism
organisations. This will encourage individuals to donate data to these
organisations and will make it easier for organisations to use data
for societal good.

According to Boštjan Koritnik
[https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/11/30/promoting-data-sharing-presidency-reaches-deal-with-parliament-on-data-governance-act/],
Slovenian Minister for Public Administration, President of the
Slovenian Presidency of the Council,

_“The Data Governance Act is a major milestone that will boost the
data-driven economy in Europe in the years to come. By enabling
control and creating trust, it will help unlock the potential of vast
amounts of data generated by businesses and individuals. This is
indispensable for the development of artificial intelligence
applications and critical for the EU’s global competitiveness in
this area. Data-powered innovations will help us address a range of
societal challenges and drive economic growth, which is so important
for the post-COVID recovery.”_

The provisional agreement is currently to be approved by the European
Council.

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Publication Date/Time
2022-01-07T13:00:00+00:00
The Data Governance Act takes the first steps towards a European data
strategy