Data Governance Act (cepPolicyBrief COM2020_767)

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The EU Commission wants to promote the sharing of valuable data held by public authorities, companies and private individuals. This includes data donations, such as the voluntary sharing of health data for research into the Corona pandemic.

cepPolicyBrief

However, the proposal might miss its target. "The rules for data sharing services create legal uncertainty and leave room for regulatory arbitrage," says cep expert Eckhardt, who has analysed the data governance act for the Freiburg-based think tank. According to him, the scope of application remains unclear. Moreover, B2B data exchange could be classified as anti-competitive information exchange and therefore lead to fines.

As to the provisions encouraging public authorities to make data available to the general public, "success depends primarily on the Member States' willingness to make it possible," says cep expert Philipp Eckhardt.