On Wednesday 6 April, MEPs meeting in Strasbourg validated (501 votes in favour, 12 against, 40 abstentions) the interinstitutional agreement reached on 30 November last year on data governance (the DGA) (see EUROPE 12847/12).
“This is the start of a paradigm shift. In the United States, the private sector has a stranglehold on data. In China, data is practically the property of the state. With this text, the EU has another approach that puts the user and the citizen at the centre”, said Angelika Niebler (EPP, Germany).
While most MEPs welcomed what had been accomplished - and the speed of the agreement, which came after only two rounds of interinstitutional negotiations - several members of the European Parliament called for the work to continue.
“We must not fall asleep, there is still a lot to do. There are still grey areas about how and where our data is used”, said Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (S&D, Finland).
From the EPP group, several MEPs, such as Graça Carvalho (EPP, Portugal), expressed their satisfaction that the text does not complicate matters for SMEs and start-ups.
The Left group, which opposed the text, believes that the agreement falls short of the objectives initially set.
As a reminder, the DGA establishes, among other things, duration limitations for exclusive contracts for the re-use of public sector data as well as for already existing contracts (see EUROPE 12844/21). Data registers are also provided for and several provisions are included to facilitate data altruism. In addition, the text also establishes a European Innovation Council. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)