A European strategy for data

Data is an essential resource for economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and societal progress in general. In the future, the development of data-driven applications will bring various benefits to both citizens and businesses: 

• improve healthcare
• create safer and cleaner transport systems
• generate new products and services
• reduce the costs of public services
• improve sustainability and energy efficiency

The European strategy for data aims at creating a single market for data that will ensure Europe’s global competitiveness and data sovereignty. This will lead to the creation of Common European Data Spaces. They will ensure that more data becomes available for use in the economy and society, while keeping the companies and individuals who generate the data in control.

To further ensure the EU’s leadership in the global data economy the European strategy for data intends to:

• adopt legislative measures on data governance, access and reuse. For example, for business-to-government data sharing for the public interest;
• make data more widely available by opening up high-value publicly held datasets across the EU and allowing their reuse for free;
• invest €2 billion in a European High Impact Project to develop data processing infrastructures, data sharing tools, architectures and governance mechanisms for thriving data sharing and to federate energy-efficient and trustworthy cloud infrastructures and related services;
• enable access to secure, fair and competitive cloud services by facilitating the set-up of a procurement marketplace for data processing services and creating clarity about the applicable regulatory framework on cloud framework of rules on cloud.

In 2020, the Commission has published a report on Business-to-Government (B2G) data sharing. Originating from a high-level Expert Group, the report presents a series of policy, legal, and funding recommendations aimed at facilitating the scaling, responsible, and sustainable implementation of B2G data sharing in the public interest within the EU.

Two critical pieces of legislation have been put in place to protect the rights and interests of citizens while simultaneously fostering industrial and technological development. They play a vital role in laying the foundation for achieving the objectives outlined in the European data strategy:

• The Data Governance Act (DGA) is a comprehensive tool designed to oversee the reuse of publicly or protected data across various sectors. It aims to facilitate data sharing by regulating new entities known as data intermediaries and promoting data sharing for altruistic reasons. The DGA covers both personal and non-personal data, with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applying whenever personal data is involved. The inclusion of built-in safeguards, in addition to GDPR, is intended to enhance trust in the sharing and reuse of data. This trust-building is crucial for increasing the availability of data in the market.
• The Data Act entered into force on 11 January 2024. It is a pillar of the European strategy for data. Its main objective is to make Europe a leader in the data economy by harnessing the potential of the ever-increasing amount of industrial data, in order to benefit the European economy and society. 

You can read about the European data strategy, including the Q&A. and the Fact Sheet.

Forthcoming Data Union Strategy

Building up on the 2020 European strategy for data, the forthcoming Data Union Strategy aims to bolster AI innovation by enhancing access to high-quality, curated data across industries and research domains. Building on the existing  legislation, the new Data Union Strategy will increase data availability, streamline data rules, and address international data flows. It will also address barriers to cross-border data use, aiming to create a coherent legal framework and robust data infrastructures to scale up AI development and enhance the EU's global competitiveness. The Data Union strategy is planned for the third quarter of 2025.