The hearing of the German Data Governance Act (DGG) is taking place today, with Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, participating as an invited expert. From eco’s point of view, it is essential that the national transposition legislation establishes clear responsibilities for the enforcement of the European Data Governance Act (DGA) and that the responsible public authority is meaningfully integrated into existing supervisory structures to ensure practical and efficient enforcement.
As part of the European Data Strategy, the Data Governance Act provides a uniform legal framework for data intermediation services and data altruism organisations across Europe, aiming to facilitate the availability and sharing of data. Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board of eco, comments: “The Data Governance Act is part of a broader framework within European digital legislation and therefore also overlaps with other current laws such as the Data Act or the AI Act. This must be taken into account in the national transposition. For digital companies, it is important to know which competent authority is responsible for enforcement and which entity serves as the relevant point of contact.” Accordingly, it makes sense to centralise supervision in an independently operating competent authority such as the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA).
eco also recommends creating attractive conditions for data intermediation services and data altruism organisations by keeping fees as low as possible for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often prove to be drivers of innovation in the data economy. At the same time, administrative burdens should be kept to a minimum to make operating data brokerage services or data altruism organisations attractive and to promote competition.
Another important aspect from the eco Association’s point of view is a harmonised transposition throughout the EU. Legal certainty can only be guaranteed if the same standards and benchmarks are applied throughout the EU.
“In view of the upcoming elections in Germany, we at eco are calling for the legislation to be adopted as soon as possible. The DGG is already in the parliamentary process. In addition, the EU has already initiated infringement proceedings because the deadline for transposing the regulation has already passed,” Süme sums up.
