Author: Sevgi Ünsal Özden
Introduction
In February 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) published “A European Strategy for Data” as part of a wider drive concerning digital transformation and policy. Through this communication, the European Union (“EU”), defining itself as having a leading role in the data economy, has aimed to outline a strategy for creating a single market for data that will ensure Europe’s global competitiveness and data sovereignty. On the basis of this strategy, the Commission launched an extensive consultation on the measures which can be taken to keep the EU at the forefront of the “data-agile economy,” including new legislative proposals to complement existing laws.
Subsequently, in March 2021, the Commission also announced “Europe's Digital Decade” and presented a vision, targets and avenues for a successful digital transformation of Europe by 2030. As clearly stated in this announcement, it is proposed to arrange a set of digital principles, to launch multi-country projects, to prepare a legislative proposal to create a powerful governance framework and to monitor progress towards these goals.
Ultimately, on 23 February 2022, the Commission proposed the draft Data Act which complements the Data Governance Act as a part of the European Data Strategy, and aims to make the EU a leader in the data-driven society.
In addition, the European Parliament Research Service has recently published a briefing (“Briefing”) for an impact assessment (“IA”) of the regulation of the European Parliament and the European Council on harmonized rules on fair access to and use of data, namely the Data Act. In this Newsletter, this Briefing and the related acts and proposals will be examined in a nutshell.
