European Data Union Strategy

Artificial intelligence is becoming a driving force of our economies, both in the tech sector and beyond as it provides new solutions across industries. To be able to compete in this new global market, the EU must be able to fuel AI with high-quality data. The Data Union Strategy addresses this need for high-quality data in Europe, with the aim of exploiting the untapped potential of data and completing the Single Market for data, as outlined in President von der Leyen’s political guidelines.

This will help our businesses, especially our SMEs, compete in a global economy increasingly shaped by AI and deliver concrete benefits for all European citizens. For example:

• Businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will get simpler and cheaper access to data sets and lower compliance costs
• Researchers and innovators will get high-quality data to train AI
• Consumers will benefit from more innovation and new services

The strategy identifies three priority areas for action based on:

1. Scaling up access to data for AI to ensure our businesses have access to high-quality data needed for innovation
2. Streamlining data rules to give legal certainty to businesses and reduce compliance costs
3. Safeguarding the EU’s data sovereignty to strengthen our global position on international data flows

Scaling up access to data for AI

Flagship initiatives to address data bottlenecks:

• Launch the first data labs to scale up data availability and create links between data spaces and AI ecosystems – they will pool both private and public resources to make high-quality sectoral data available to companies, including SMEs, and researchers using AI and provide relevant data services for AI-driven innovation
• Scale up common European data spaces, supported by ongoing EU investment of around EUR 100 million, creating new data spaces across key sectors, including a defence data space.
• Explore horizontal enablers to boost the entire data economy. In particular, expanding high-value datasets under the Open Data Directive, making 30 million digitised cultural objects available for AI training, boosting the use of synthetic data and the EU’s production output.

Streamlining data rules

The Data Union Strategy was published alongside the Digital Omnibus, which proposes ways to modernise and consolidate the EU’s data laws in the Data Act, among other things. This update of the acquis, removing unnecessary burdens and repealing outdated provisions, will reduce compliance costs, make rules easier to apply, and better support innovation. To further support companies with compliance, the Commission has also published a number of guiding documents and initiatives, including:

• Model contractual terms for data access and use
• Standard contractual clauses for cloud computing contracts
• A Data Act legal helpdesk

Taken together, these will make the Data Act easier to navigate, so our companies can spend more time innovating and less time on administration.

Safeguarding the EU's data sovereignty

The Data Union Strategy aims to safeguard the EU’s data sovereignty and strengthen the EU’s global position through a strategic approach to international data flows that combines openness with strength. Sovereignty requires openness to trusted partners, including exchange of data across borders, but on terms that are fair, secure, and consistent with EU values and interests.

As geopolitical tensions and digital protectionism grow, Europe must safeguard its assets and shape global rules so data can flow to and from Europe securely and in a trusted manner. To this end, flagship actions include:

• Issuing guidelines to assess fair treatment of EU data abroad
• Creating a toolbox to counter unjustified localisation, exclusion, data leakage and adoption measures to protection sensitive non-personal data