- Digital Transformation
Building the European Data Economy
ERT welcomes the European Commission’s Communication on Building the European Data Economy, which constitutes one of the final deliverables announced in the Digital Single Market Strategy in May 2015.
As stated in the Commission’s Communication, data has become an essential resource for economic growth, job creation and societal progress. In order to enable the EU to make the most of its data potential and build the data economy, the Commission highlights the need to address unjustified restrictions to the free movement of data across borders in the EU and a number of emerging issues in the data economy (data access and transfer, liability, as well as data portability, interoperability and standards).
The European Commission should continue to carefully evaluate existing data localisation restrictions, in order to tackle those requirements in the EU that turn out to have no justification under European legislation.
ERT supports the next steps set out by the Commission in its Communication of January 2017 which are aimed at achieving this objective.
With regard to the other emerging issues raised in the Communication, such as data access and transfer as well as liability, ERT regards the existing legal framework as fit for purpose.
While we would welcome the European Commission to issue guidance, based on existing legislation, as regards incentivising business to share data, additional legislation on the emerging issues under discussion risks undermining innovation and the development of the data economy.