A European strategy for data
The European Parliament adopted by 602 votes to 8, with 78 abstentions, a resolution on a European strategy for data.
Members believe that the European data strategy will be a prerequisite for the viability of European businesses and their global competitiveness, as well as for the progress of universities, research centres and emerging artificial intelligence. It will be a crucial step in building a data society that respects EU rights and values, in defining the conditions for the data economy, and in establishing the EU's leading role.
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the role of and need for high-quality, real-time databases, information and data sharing, as well as shortcomings in the infrastructure and interoperability of solutions across Member States. The resolution stressed the vital role of the principle of free movement of data within the EU in realising the full potential of the data-driven economy.
Values and principles
The EU must strive for EU-wide data governance and a human-centric, data society and economy based on the Union’s values of privacy, transparency and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, empowering its citizens to take meaningful decisions over the data produced by or relating to them.
Members want future proposals that involve the processing of personal data are subject to the supervision of data protection authorities pursuant to the GDPR, in order to ensure that innovation also considers the impact on citizens’ rights. Any misuse of data, including through mass surveillance, should be excluded.
Governance
Parliament supports the creation of a data governance framework and common European data spaces, which should be subject to EU rules and cover transparency, interoperability, sharing, access, portability and security of data, with a view to enhancing the flow and reuse of non-personal data or personal data that is fully GDPR-compliant and securely anonymised in both industrial and public environments and across and within specific sectors.
Member called for the creation of a Commission-led expert group that would have the capacity to help and advise the Commission to set common, EU-wide guidelines on data governance in order to turn interoperability and data sharing into a reality in the EU.
Data spaces
The Commission and Member States are encouraged to create interoperable sectoral data spaces that follow common guidelines, legal requirements and protocols for data exchange.
The resolution encouraged the Commission to use common European data spaces to build trust, adopt common standards, encourage the creation of well-designed application programming interfaces (APIs) and robust authentication systems, and to consider using pre-agreed data experimentation spaces to test innovations.
Parliament supports the Commission's intention to promote the development of nine common European data spaces for industry (manufacturing), the Green Deal, mobility, health, finance, energy, agriculture, public administration and skills. The concept of European Common Data Spaces could be extended to other sectors such as tourism, cultural and creative industries and cultural heritage.
Mixed data
Recalling that it is not always possible to separate personal data from non-personal data such as industrial data, Parliament called on the Commission and European data protection authorities to provide further guidance on the lawful processing of data and on practices for the use of mixed data sets in industrial environments, in full compliance with the GDPR.
Data act
Parliament urged the Commission to present a data act to encourage and enable a greater and fair B2B, B2G, government-to-business (G2B) and government-to-government (G2G) flow of data in all sectors. The Commission is encouraged to facilitate a data sharing culture and voluntary data sharing schemes, such as the implementation of best practices, fair contractual model agreements and security measures.
Infrastructure and cybersecurity
Parliament called on the Commission and Member States to support the development of European cloud computing offerings and to develop a ‘set of rules on cloud computing’ that will provide a solid framework for greater clarity and easier compliance with the rules applicable to cloud services, including obliging service providers to disclose where data is processed and stored, while ensuring users' sovereignty over their data.
Members welcomed the Commission's proposal to create a new European Cyber Security Competence Centre.
Global rules
Parliament considered that global rules governing the use of data are inadequate. It invited the Commission to come forward with a comparative analysis of the regulatory environment for data in third countries. The resolution highlighted the need for international rules and standards to foster global cooperation aimed at strengthening data protection and establishing safe and appropriate data transfers, while fully respecting EU and Member States’ laws and standards.