Written by Last week, a European parliamentary negotiation team reached a provisional agreement with the European Council about one of the core new data laws: the Data Governance Act (DGA). The Data Sovereignty Now (DSN) organisation is very pleased with the content of this provisional agreement and regards it as a major step towards data sovereignty.
The DGA is the first legislative initiative following the launch of the European Parliament’s Data Strategy and is part of a broader legislative package aimed at structuring the EU’s data economy (including the Data Act, the draft version of which is expected in February 2022). Angelika Niebler, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the Data Governance Act, stated: “Our goal with the DGA was to set the foundation for a data economy that people and businesses can trust in. Only if trust and fairness are guaranteed can data sharing flourish to its fullest potential and stimulate new business models and social innovation.”
Major step towards data sovereignty
DSN has always regarded the DGA as playing an important role in the EU’s digital future and the coalition is happy to now see this role being reflected in the preliminary DGA. DSN believes that the DGA lays the foundation for the digital future because:
- It draws up the general rules of the game for the data economy. The DGA is an important step to ensure fairness in the creation of value and how that value is distributed amongst all players.
- It comes at precisely the right time. DSN has always emphasised that it is time to act now in order to take advantage of the window of opportunity for securing a digital future based on trust and fairness.
- It includes the creation of a Data Innovation Board (DIB), which DSN believes will be the key driving force to accelerate interoperability.
The DSN eagerly anticipates the execution of the next steps in the DGA and is particularly keen to see the creation of a strong and effective Data Innovation Board.