27.06.2023

eco: EU Data Act Must Overcome Bureaucratic Hurdles to Become a Gamechanger

Today, Tuesday, the Council, Commission and Parliament will meet for the third trilogue of the planned EU Data Act. The Data Act will fundamentally change the data economy in Europe and is intended to facilitate the accessibility of non-personal data in order to promote innovation and fairness in the digital environment and to better exploit the potential of the constantly increasing amounts of data.

Despite important progress, eco – Association of the Internet Industry still sees a need for improvement in the Data Act, as it currently creates less incentives for companies and more bureaucracy.

eco Chair of the Board Oliver SĂŒme said:

“Due to the importance and scope of the regulations on the handling of data in Germany, Europe and beyond, today must not be solely about reaching an agreement in order to conclude the legislative process as quickly as possible. It is true that the Commission has already made the right adjustments with regard to the protection of business secrets and the restrictions on access rights for public authorities. Nevertheless, in our view, there are still numerous issues that need to be clarified and improved in the Data Act. In particular, the deadlines for switching between cloud providers or the insufficient data processing rights of data holders need to be addressed today. There is also still room for improvement in the area of trade secrets, despite some progress made. We need to ensure that the obligation to disclose data does not cause economic damage to data holders. And we need better incentives for the Internet industry to justify the bureaucracy currently involved in processing and sharing data.”

The Data Act was supposed to be passed in June under the Swedish Council Presidency. The trilogue today will show whether an agreement can be reached.

eco Association: Five Theses on the 2023 German Digital Policy