The EACB welcomed the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on the Data Union Strategy, highlighting key priorities to ensure a coherent and competitive data landscape in the EU.
We welcomed the 2020 Data Strategy and the progress made through horizontal legislation such as the DGA, ODD, and the Data Act. However, the evolving data framework is becoming increasingly complex, posing challenges to innovation and compliance, particularly for sector-specific initiatives such as the Financial Data Access (FiDA) proposal.
In our response, we stress the need for a balanced and streamlined approach. We caution against the creation of siloed, sector-specific regimes that risk duplicating existing frameworks, such as the trusted data-sharing intermediaries already introduced under the DGA. A more gradual and coordinated implementation could help safeguard cross-sector interoperability and reduce unnecessary burdens for financial institutions.
To achieve the goals of the Data Union and support Europe’s leadership in AI and innovation, we call for two key actions:
1. Prioritising the streamlining and quality improvement of existing horizontal and sectoral rules, with a focus on legal coherence and economic competitiveness.
2. Assessing the risk of regulatory imbalance from imposing sector-specific models, such as FiDA, where market-led solutions and cross-sector frameworks like the DGA already exist.