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EP adopts a resolution on the EU Data Strategy

On 25 March 2021, the European Parliament adopted in plenary session a resolution on the EU Data Strategy. This resolution stresses the importance of the EU Data Strategy which is seen as a prerequisite for the viability of European businesses and their global competitiveness. It also stresses that the crisis has outlined the EU legal and regulatory fragmentation which leads to interoperability issues and the need to also have better real-time data sharing in Europe.

 

The Parliament therefore urges the Commission to:

  • carry out an evaluation and mapping of the existing legislation in order to assess what adjustments and additional requirements are needed to support the data society and economy
  • keep free flow of data in the Union as the founding principle
  • guarantee the full respect of GDPR as regards data processing, and also stress that in line with the GDPR principle of purpose limitation, the free sharing of data must be limited to non-personal data, such as industrial or commercial data, or securely, effectively and irreversibly anonymised personal data, including in the case of mixed data sets
  • Calls for prior impact assessments to be conducted by the Commission on whether the data-driven digital economy requires any changes or adjustments to the current legal framework for intellectual property rights (IPR) in order to promote innovation and the uptake of new digital technologies.
  • welcomes the Commission’s intention to revise the Database Directive (and to further clarify the application of Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of trade secrets.

On the EU Data Governance and EU Data Spaces, the EP is pushing for a clear regulatory framework and the need to build ecosystems of interoperable data which should be available to essential economic sectors and public sector.  The EP also calls for the creation of a Expert Group with Member States, national regulators and interested economic actors to work on Best Practice Guidelines on data sharing and interoperability.  

 

Source: EU Parliament, FEBIS

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