27 June 2022

EBF Position paper on the proposal for a Regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (Data Act)

A European data economy which unlocks new opportunities for customers – individuals and firms – through increased access to and sharing of data is a priority that the European banking sector welcomes in the process of its own continuing digital transformation.

It is the combination of data from different sectors which holds the greatest potential for delivering new services and experiences for customers. The EBF therefore welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for a Data Act, which aims to increase sharing of data from connected products and related services as well as the introduction of horizontal principles which are set to apply to future data sharing legislation as well. We also welcome the intention to address the challenge of lock-in effects for business customers of data processing providers. However, to deliver on the opportunities offered by the proposal and to provide legal certainty for all in the data sharing ecosystem, we recommend:

• A clearly defined scope for new obligations for data access from connected products and related services as well as further elaboration on the modalities for data sharing.
• Maintaining strong horizontal principles for data sharing, including the compensation principle, which is an important and needed step forward to recognize the investment by data holders.
• A targeted scope for the data access for “exceptional need” for business to government data sharing provisions as well as an independent control mechanism to ensure proportionality of obligations.
• The endeavour to provide regulatory requirements to foster switching between cloud service providers needs to balance practical technological aspects with strategic considerations for cloud availability. Chapter VI, as well as corresponding definitions, would benefit from a number of clarifications and additions.

full paper

EBF

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