Discussions are continuing on the need to regulate dataflows at a European Union level. Given that the structured dialogue with Union member states is due to start on 21 February, many speakers called on the European Commission to put forward specific legislation. The German delegation was keen to clarify its position.
Robert Dehm, advisor to the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU, explained, “We are not exactly against free movement. In fact, we’re not in either camp”.
The movement of data is a sensitive subject in the EU. The directive on e-commerce (2000/31/EC) enshrines the free movement of the information society and services with member states. It does, however, allow the EU28 to impose restrictions, subject to certain conditions such as public order, public health, public security, consumer protection, etc.
According to the Commission, there are now about 50 restrictions pertaining to data localisation. Thomas Boué, the Director-General of the Business Software Alliance explained, “Data will continue to increase in an exponential way over the next few years and we have no idea what process will be applied to it. Keeping things the same is not enough, we need to take action now and say that free movement is the rule”.
John Frank, The vice president in charge of European affairs at Microsoft said that dataflow is a prerequisite for cloud computing and that it is currently confronting three barriers: efforts to guarantee cyber security, the will to create champions and fears that the data stored abroad could be used without the knowledge of the users concerned.
Alexander de Croo, the Belgian Minister for the Digital Agenda and Telecoms said, “I think these restrictions can be explained by a desire for protectionism and a lack of technical understanding, but there is no reason for this”. Together with 13 other member states, Belgium is also cosignatory to a letter dated last December, urging the Commission to anchor the principle of free movement of data into European law (see EUROPE 11681). Before criticising France and Germany for their opposition in this connection, he asserted that, “This should be the fifth fundamental freedom!” With regard to the latter two countries he also exclaimed, “We could also accept exceptions for sensitive data relating to national security and terrorism”.
The German delegation immediately retorted, “We are not exactly against free movement. We are not in either camp. We recognise that it involves a precondition for developing a digital economy”.
The Commission representative indicated that analyses were currently underway. A public consultation on the data based European economy is open until 26 April 2017. The Commission will also begin a structured dialogue with member states on 23 February, in an effort to obtain concrete information regarding their respective situations. In response to questions from the assembly, Pearse O’Donohue from the Commission’s Directorate General responsible for communication networks, content and technologies (DG Connect) did not rule out infringement procedures against member states that applied unjustified restrictions (see EUROPE 11708). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)