18.01.2023

eco Association on the Data Act: Statement by the German Federal Government Addresses Important Points of Criticism, but Also Raises New Questions

The German federal government has sent a statement on the Data Act to Brussels. eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme comments:

“In principle, the German federal government addresses some important points of criticism in its statement, such as the necessary clarification of the interaction between the GDPR and the Data Act. Clarification is urgently needed here in order to avoid legal uncertainties for the companies affected.

“At the same time, the new Chapter Va, in particular, raises additional questions. This chapter defines very far-reaching access options for research institutions if the research is in the public interest and thus counteracts the restrictions that have been made in the area of public bodies. It must be ensured here that the burden on companies remains within reasonable limits.

“Unfortunately, some essential points of criticism and question marks remain unanswered by the German federal government’s statement. This concerns, for example, the continued rigid deadlines for switching between cloud providers or the insufficient compensation of data owners when data is passed on to third parties. Overall, in our view, the basic problem remains that the Data Act offers too much bureaucracy and too few incentives for companies to process, use and share data.”

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