Commission confirms no delay to implementing the Data Act
Several tech industry players had asked for a two-year delay, warning the law could harm AI development
Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen has reaffirmed the existing timeline for implementing the Data Act, a previously agreed law which regulates data sharing by connected devices, passing over industry pleas for a two year delay.
The EU Data Act regulates the access and use of non-personal – typically industrial – data generated by connected devices, such as smart home appliances. But a number of industry players have raised concerns it could harm innovation.
The Act became law under the last mandate and is supposed to enter into force on 12 September. Ahead of that, in August – amid the current Commission’s push to simplify EU legislation – several tech companies, including SAP, Siemens, Schneider Electric, tech lobby Digital Europe, and eight national lobby associations – called for a two-year pause.
They also asked the Commission to include a review of the law in its upcoming “digital omnibus” which is set to streamline existing tech laws later this year – claiming that applying the Act could throw a spanner in the works of “data-driven innovation” and AI development.
Replying to their concerns in a letter addressed to Green MEP Damian Boeselager, who was one of the Parliament’s negotiators for the Data Act, Virkkunen wrote that she “remains fully committed to ensuring a smooth and effective rollout of the Data Act in view of its entry into application on 12 September”.
In a LinkedIn post on Virkkunen’s letter, Boeselager said he interpreted her reply as support for the Act. But he also urged the Commission not to give in to lobbying efforts to weaken it, saying large manufacturers “wanted to use the simplification agenda (“digital omnibus”) to shift the balance we found”.
(nl)
