Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union receives negotiating mandate to initiate Data Act trilogue

The Council of the EU has adopted its common position on the Data Act proposal, and the Swedish Presidency will now initiate negotiations with the European Parliament on the final version of the proposal. The aim of the Data Act is to promote a competitive data market, facilitate data-driven innovation and make data more accessible.

“This is a step towards strengthening European competitiveness in the global digital economy. The Data Act will unlock the economic and societal potential of data and technologies in line with EU rules and values. It will contribute to creating a single market to allow data to flow freely within the EU and across sectors for the benefit of businesses, researchers, public administrations and society at large,” says Sweden’s Minister for Public Administration Erik Slottner.

The Data Act will clarify who can create value from data and under which conditions, and lays the foundations for a European market for industrial data generated from everything from cars and planes to smart home appliances and other smart objects.

The Data Act will also address the legal uncertainty regarding who has the right to use the data generated through the use of connected products, as the manufacturer and the user produce the data together. Under the Act, the owner of a product will have the right to use the data generated. In other words, private individuals and companies will have control over the data they generate. Users will also have the right to switch between different cloud data-processing service providers.