Around 400 representatives of companies, governments and researchers met in Tallinn, Estonia, on 17 July to discuss the free movement of data, which the Estonian Presidency of the EU Council wants to set up as the fifth fundamental freedom. The day after, it was the turn of telecoms and competitiveness ministers to have an informal exchange of views on this subject.
The vice-president of the European Commission, Andrus Ansip, attended both meetings and gave EUROPE his analysis in the Estonian capital on Tuesday 18 July. The Commission will put forward a legislative proposal, probably a regulation, in order to lift barriers to the free movement of data. It will also possibly take action in 2018 to respond to the concerns expressed on data ownership and responsibility in case of damage caused by a connected object or robot. (Exclusive interview conducted by Sophie Petitjean)
What is your analysis of the conference?
There was actually broad support. When the moderator asked the audience who feels optimistic, a large majority raised their hands. There is a clear need to allow free data flows and to put this principle into EU legislation.
When we discussed free data last year at the Telecoms Council in December, we had 18 speakers who asked for immediate legal actions. Now it seems those who had doubts will hopefully support those general ideas.
But it seems that some telecoms companies from the private sector have concerns about, for instance, the issue of ownership. Do you understand this?
This is part of emerging issues: data ownership, access to data, liability, etc. We are dealing with them but we will launch a proposal only next year. This year, we will put general principles allowing data flows across the EU, providing access for tax departments for instance and facilitating portability of data (cloud switch).
Of course, some service providers think the situation is already good enough but according to public consultation, 56.8% of SMEs find it too difficult to change service providers today (they raise cost and interoperability problems). We have to bring more clarity to those rules.
You have announced that you will tackle restrictions to the free flow of data. Is it the "already identified ones" or new ones?
We have to deal with the existing barriers also. But of course, some kind of restrictions will be accepted; when we talk about national security data or public health data. But there has to be proportionality.
Can you tell us more about the time schedule and the kind of legislative act you will choose?
Most likely it will be a regulation. But it is not decided yet. The impact assessment is ongoing. We hope to make our proposal this autumn.
This two-day event was also the first public appearance of Mariya Gabriel. What do you expect from her on crossborder access to digital content, a bone of contention between you and Günther Oettinger?
Those different views were not between me and Günther but it reflects the different views in our society. (...) About crossborder access, I said I hate geoblocking. But if there is no support in the Parliament or member states, it will be just a waste of time. With Günther, maybe on some issues we represented different views but we were able to find consensus.
And with Mariya Gabriel, I hope it is the same story; I did not identify different views at this stage. And I am happy we have a new commissioner because to additionally carry Günther's portfolio was pretty tough. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)