European Strategy for Data
European Union · Framework · European Commission
Our summary
The 2020 strategy promotes human-centered data development while advancing European values and competitiveness in the digital economy. It establishes a single market for data through Common European Data Spaces, enabling broader data availability for economic and societal applications while preserving individual control. The strategy supports this vision through legislation like the Data Governance Act and Data Act, public dataset access initiatives, cloud infrastructure investment, and business-to-government data sharing frameworks.
Written by the Index in our own words. It is not legal advice; the official text is the authority.
Inside this policy
Every section of this policy in order. Our notes summarise each one in plain language and do not quote the official text, which is the authority.
Drafted by the Index An automated summary of the official text, not yet reviewed by a person.Reviewed Checked by a person against the official text.
10 sections
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1 Introduction
The EU must establish itself as a leading data-empowered society by enabling personal data sharing under strict data protection rules while making non-personal industrial and public data available to all organisations to promote innovation and competition, addressing fragmentation in data access and governance across Member States. The strategy requires cross-sectoral legislative frameworks and common European data spaces (in manufacturing, environment, transport, healthcare, financial services, energy, agriculture, public administration and skills), funded through €2 billion Commission investment targeting €4-6 billion total by 2022, to support data availability, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, standards and interoperability, alongside training of approximately 250,000 people in data technologies by 2025 and increased basic digital skills for the population from 57% to 65% by 2025. A Data Act will address data altruism, business-to-business and business-to-government sharing, co-generated data responsibilities, and compulsory access under fair and proportionate conditions where necessary, while the EU pursues cross-border data transfers balancing openness with protection of European standards and security.
2 Common European Green Deal data space
The Commission will launch multiple initiatives to support Green Deal priorities through data: a GreenData4All initiative to evaluate and update spatial data and environment information directives by Q4 2021 or Q1 2022; large-scale data-services for environmental compliance monitoring by Q4 2021; a common data space for circular economy with digital product passports covering supply chain information; a pilot programme on zero pollution data by Q4 2021; and the Destination Earth initiative to create a high-precision digital Earth model starting in 2021 for monitoring sustainable development.
3 Common European mobility data space
Modern vehicles generate approximately 25 gigabytes of data per hour, and autonomous vehicles will generate terabytes of data that can support innovative services and maintenance. The Commission will review vehicle approval legislation by Q1 2021 to expand data-sharing access beyond current repair and maintenance provisions, while ensuring car-owner rights and data protection compliance.
4 Common European health data space
Strengthening use and reuse of health data supports healthcare innovation, evidence-based decisions by healthcare authorities, and competitiveness of EU industry. Citizens have rights to access, control, and request portability of personal health data, but these rights are fragmented across Member States; secure electronic health record access and cross-border data portability would improve care quality and cost-effectiveness. Healthcare systems must use shared data ethically and allow withdrawal of consent at any time.
5 Common European financial data space
Encourages data sharing in the financial sector to drive innovation and achieve policy objectives such as improved access to finance and sustainable finance. The Commission will facilitate access to publicly disclosed financial and supervisory data using common technical standards, continue implementing open banking requirements, and explore additional data-sharing initiatives.
6 Common European energy data space
Establishes customer access and portable meter and energy consumption data subject to data protection law, with national governance frameworks and data-sharing rules for electricity network operators. The Commission will adopt implementing acts on interoperability and fair access procedures, and consider actions to improve smart building interoperability for energy efficiency and renewable integration.
7 Common European agricultural data space
Creates a neutral platform enabling farmers, machinery producers and others to share agricultural data through fair contracts, combining production data with supply chain and environmental information to improve sustainability and competitiveness. The Commission will assess the existing stakeholder code of conduct and current data spaces to decide on an EU-wide approach.
8 Common European data spaces for public administrations
Covers law, procurement and public interest data from public sector bodies, focusing on transparency, accountability and law enforcement within data protection principles. The Commission will develop initiatives on public procurement data, standards for legal information interoperability, and ensure EU budget implementation data meets accessibility and reusability criteria.
9 Common European skills data space
Provides quality data on qualifications, learning opportunities, skills and jobs to help education and labour markets adapt to changing needs. The Commission will support Member States in developing digital credential plans and establish governance for the Europass Digital Credentials Framework through 2022.
10 European Open Science Cloud
The European Open Science Cloud provides seamless access and reliable reuse of research data through a trusted distributed environment; it will serve as the foundation for a science and research data space connecting data from research and deployment programmes with sectoral data spaces. The Commission will deploy European Open Science Cloud operations by 2025, develop stakeholder-driven governance structures and European partnership by end 2020, and from 2024 onwards open up and connect the cloud beyond research communities to the wider public and private sectors.
Controls
What this policy requires, forbids, grants or penalises, one control at a time and in our own words. Each control links to the official text, which is the authority. This is not legal advice.
Drafted by the Index Drafted automatically from the official text, not yet reviewed by a person.Reviewed Checked by a person against the official text.
Themes covered 3 of 35
Choose a theme to see only its controls. About the themes
Risk and scope 0 of 4
- Risk classification, not covered
- Prohibited practices, not covered
- Risk management system, not covered
- Impact assessment, not covered
Data and privacy 2 of 4
- Cross-border data transfer, not covered
- Copyright and training data, not covered
Transparency and records 0 of 4
- Transparency and disclosure to users, not covered
- Labelling of synthetic content, not covered
- Technical documentation, not covered
- Record keeping and logging, not covered
Technical safeguards 0 of 4
- Human oversight, not covered
- Accuracy, robustness and cybersecurity, not covered
- Bias and non-discrimination, not covered
- Testing and evaluation, not covered
Assurance and lifecycle 0 of 4
- Conformity assessment and certification, not covered
- Registration and notification, not covered
- Incident and breach reporting, not covered
- Post-market monitoring and corrective action, not covered
Rights and protected groups 0 of 4
- Automated decision-making rights, not covered
- Children and vulnerable groups, not covered
- Biometric identification and surveillance, not covered
- Whistleblowing, complaints and redress, not covered
Roles and organisation 1 of 6
- Supply chain and provider-deployer duties, not covered
- General purpose and foundation models, not covered
- Training and AI literacy, not covered
- Public sector use and procurement, not covered
- Innovation support and sandboxes, not covered
Enforcement and sectors 0 of 5
- Enforcement, penalties and regulators, not covered
- Sector rules: health, not covered
- Sector rules: finance and insurance, not covered
- Sector rules: employment, not covered
- Sector rules: education, not covered
The full list of controls could not be loaded, so only the first 21 are shown.
2 5 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should evaluate and possibly review the spatial information and environmental access rules to modernise them in line with technological opportunities.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should deploy reusable data services at scale to help collect, share, process and analyse data for environmental compliance and Green Deal priority actions.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should establish a common European data space for circular economy applications with digital product passports providing information on product origin, durability, composition, reuse, repair and end-of-life handling.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should pilot early implementation of the data strategy in zero pollution contexts to exploit underused data on chemicals, air, water and soil emissions.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should launch the Destination Earth initiative.
3 2 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should ensure that vehicle type approval legislation is updated to expand access to vehicle data for purposes beyond repair and maintenance while respecting data protection rules.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should facilitate federated platforms and networks of national access points to make transport and logistics data available from both public and private sectors for data sharing and reuse.
4 2 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should develop sector-specific measures to strengthen citizens' access to their health data and enable portability of such data within and across borders.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should establish a Code of Conduct for processing health data in accordance with GDPR Article 40.
5 2 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission will establish concrete initiatives on financial data sharing in its Digital Finance Strategy, including measures to promote technical standards for accessing public financial and supervisory data.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission will ensure that banks comply with open banking requirements under the revised Payment Services Directive and will investigate further data-sharing steps.
6 2 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission will adopt implementing acts specifying interoperability requirements and fair procedures for energy data access by 2021 or 2022.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission will evaluate actions to enhance interoperability of smart building systems to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption by late 2020.
7 1 control
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission will assess existing agricultural data spaces, including those funded under Horizon 2020, and decide on a coordinated EU-wide approach by early 2021.
8 3 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission will create a data initiative covering public procurement information at both EU and national levels and establish governance procedures for it by mid 2021.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission will issue guidance on common standards and interoperable frameworks for legal information across Europe and Member States by early 2021.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission will cooperate with Member States to ensure that EU budget data sources meet standards of being findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.
9 2 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission should support Member States in developing digital credential transformation plans and preparing reusable datasets of qualifications and learning opportunities.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission should establish a governance model for the Europass Digital Credentials Framework in cooperation with Member States and key stakeholders.
10 2 controls
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDeadline was Drafted by the Index
The Commission should steer the development of stakeholder-driven governance structures for the European Open Science Cloud.
- ObligationApplies to: Public authorityDrafted by the Index
The Commission should expand European Open Science Cloud access beyond research communities to the wider public and private sectors.
Applies when: from 2024 onwards
Change history
No changes recorded since we began monitoring this policy.