Commission calls on 18 Member States to comply with the EU Data Governance Act
Today, the European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to 18 Member States that did not designate the responsible authorities to implement the Data Governance Act, or that have failed to prove that the latter are empowered to perform the tasks required by the Act.
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Those member states are: Belgium (INFR(2024)2055), Czechia (INFR(2024)2057), Germany (INFR(2024)2060), Estonia (INFR(2024)2058), Greece (INFR(2024)2061), France (INFR(2024)2059), Italy (INFR(2024)2062), Cyprus (INFR(2024)2056), Latvia (INFR(2024)2064), Luxembourg (INFR(2024)2063), Malta (INFR(2024)2065), Austria (INFR(2024)2054), Poland (INFR(2024)2066), Portugal (INFR(2024)2067), Romania (INFR(2024)2068), Slovenia (INFR(2024)2070), Slovakia (INFR(2024)2071) and Sweden (INFR(2024)2069).
The Data Governance Act facilitates data sharing across sectors and EU countries for the benefit of citizens and businesses. It will increase trust in data sharing by establishing rules for neutrality of data intermediaries that connect individuals and companies with data users. Data intermediation activities have to be strictly independent of any other services that they provide, be registered and can be identified by a common EU logo. The Act will also facilitate the reuse of certain data held by the public sector and stimulate voluntary sharing of data. Data altruism allows citizens to give their consent to make available data that they generate for the common good, for example for medical research projects. Data altruism organisations can decide to be included in a public register and use the common EU logo. They must have a not-for-profit character and meet transparency requirements as well as offer specific safeguards to protect the rights and interests of citizens and companies that decide to share their data. Applicable since 24 September 2023, the responsible authorities are in charge of the registration of data altruism organisations and of monitoring the compliance of data intermediation services providers. The Commission is therefore sending a letter of formal notice to the 18 Member States concerned which now have 2 months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
