EU Data Act – Focus on Cloud Services

In 2021, the European Commission released its proposal for a “Data Act”, a far-reaching legal regime on access to and use of non-personal data in the EU. The basic premise underlying the Commission’s proposal is that industrial data – 80% of which is not used to date – constitutes untapped potential. Through the Data Act, the Commission aims to overcome the legal, economic and technical obstacles it believes to be responsible for the underuse of data, and to clear the way for increased data use. In this series of articles, we discuss different aspects of the proposed Act as it moves towards its final form. With the Act now in the trilogue phase, many of the issues discussed in the series are likely to feature heavily in discussions between the European Council and Parliament, the outcomes of which will be wide-reaching for the European cloud industry. For more information on the Data Act or any of the issues discussed in the articles, please reach out to any of the contacts listed here or your usual CMS contact.