The European Commission presented on 23 February 2022 a legislative proposal, in the form of a regulation, on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data in the EU. It is the second main legislative initiative as part of the Commission’s data strategy, announced in February 2020. It follows the Data Governance Act which would facilitate voluntary data sharing across the EU (currently in the process of formal adoption).

The EU Data Act would impose business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) data sharing obligations on manufacturers of products (e.g. connected devices) and related services.

The new regulatory framework also contains measures to enhance data portability (through a new data sharing right), and to ease the switching of providers of data processing (e.g. cloud and edge) services. 

Mandatory business-to-government data sharing would also be established, although in limited circumstances only, such as public emergencies.