The probability of the Commission presenting regulation on the free movement of data by summer 2017, as previously announced by Vice President Ansip, is gradually looking less likely. During the first structured dialogue with member states on 23 February, the Commission presented its work on developing a “roadmap towards a common approach”.
In its digital single market strategy, the Commission announced that it was going to propose an initiative to tackle restrictions on the free movement of data. The restrictions targeted have nothing to do with personal data protection in the EU. In this document, it also announced that it was looking at ways of tackling unjustified restrictions on data localisation for storage or processing purposes. Nonetheless, it quickly clashed with the opposition of around ten member states (led by France), which described this initiative as pointless.
During an initial structured dialogue with member states on 23 February, the Commission presented its main guidelines for its January communication on a data based economy (see EUROPE 11700). It indicated that at this stage it had identified multiple barriers on the development of the free movement of data, particularly in the area of tax regulation, security/defence, financial data, public registers, public sector archives, health and betting and gaming, etc. The Commission explained that this is despite the fact that removing restrictions on data localisation could lead to increased revenue of €8 billion.
In this context, it held bilateral discussions with the member states concerned. It also put forward its idea of developing a “roadmap towards a common approach” for clarifying terminology, guaranteeing legal security, providing public and private operators with reassurances and therefore building bridges with existing rules. It also pointed out that a consultation, mainly with the public authorities, had been opened until 26 April 2017. This consultation focuses on restrictions on localisation, the scope of geographic storage or data transformation, possible justifications for restrictions, EU opportunities for tackling unjustified restrictions and the perceived impact of removing unjustified restrictions.
During the meeting, it indicated that, “following this, the Commission should open infringement proceedings where it is necessary and appropriate and should also take other initiatives on the free movement of data when needed”.
The structured dialogue with member states also involved a presentation of several studies, one of which was presented by IDC Consultants on economic potential of data and role of SMEs. Another study presented by Deloitte focused on the impact of cloud computing.
The next structured dialogue will take place on 30 March and will certainly be followed by a third on 25 April. The consultants requested by the European Commission to draft a study on data localisation restrictions (Time.lex, Spark Legal Network et T4i2) will also be organising a workshop on 20 March as a means to further develop their research. The draft communication of 10 January can be seen at: http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2017/FR/COM-2017-9-F1-FR-MAIN-PART-1.PDF . (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)