The EU Data Act is moving into the final stages of the EU legislative process after Member States adopted their position late last week in Brussels. BSA is urging European officials to address several lingering concerns during upcoming inter-institutional negotiations (“trilogues”) before agreeing on a final text.
What BSA is saying: BSA is urging officials to “improve the proposal and make it both more workable and usable in practice” and take the “necessary time to resolve those complex issues and address concerns shared by industry stakeholders across all sectors.”
The backstory: The EU Data Act is Europe’s general framework legislation for non-personal data. Aimed at unlocking the EU’s data economy, it will add new rules covering connected IoT products, devices, machinery, and more. The Act addresses issues like B2B and B2G data sharing and access, the ability for a customer to switch from one cloud service provider to another, rules on international non-personal data transfers, and provisions to make cloud service providers interoperable within the EU.
What BSA is working on: BSA is seeking clarification and improvement in several areas, including making sure the Data Act:
- Allows for contractual flexibility for cloud service providers and customers in the cloud-switching chapter;
- Avoids restrictions on international non-personal data transfers;
- Maintains competition and promotes innovation vis-à-vis interoperability rules; and
- Promotes B2B and B2G industrial data sharing on a voluntary basis.
What’s next: Trilogues – the negotiation process by which the EU Commission, the EU Parliament, and the Council of the EU agree on the final text to become law – start today, March 29, with an agreement expected as early as the end of June.
BSA’s seven recommendations on the EU Data Act are available here.
