The European Union framework for data sharing

Abstract

In 2020, the European Commission announced the European Data Strategy, which outlines a comprehensive plan to strengthen the EU's role in the global data economy. Based on the European Data Strategy this study examines the European Union's legislative efforts towards a data ecosystem, touching on the Open Data Directive and the Data Governance Regulation and providing a detailed analysis of the Data Regulation. The aim of the Data Regulation is to boost the European Union's data economy by disclosing industrial data and optimizing their accessibility. However, the data sharing framework may conflict with a number of European data protection requirements. The central problem is, among other things, the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation of the concept of personal data, due to differences between absolute and relative approaches, as well as the changing and difficult-to-define roles of data controllers. The study predicts that the objectives of legislation promoting open data access may conflict with the GDPR's pro-privacy data minimization approach, which could cause significant legal uncertainty for parties interested in or involved in data sharing.