The European Union’s ambition to create a single market for data is a cornerstone of its European strategy for data. The strategy aims to unlock the economic and societal potential of data, fostering a competitive, fair and innovative data economy. Central to this vision are three key legislative instruments:
- The Free Flow of Non-Personal Data Regulation, which aims to remove obstacles to the free movement of non-personal data.
- The Open Data Directive, which seeks to promote the re-use of public sector information and stimulate the market for innovative data-driven services.
- The Data Governance Act, designed to build trust in data sharing, establishes rules for data intermediaries and encourages data altruism.
The European Commission is mandated by these legal acts to conduct evaluations of their application and impact. The primary purpose of this support study is to provide the Commission with a robust, evidence-based foundation to fulfil these legal obligations.
The evaluation finds that the Open Data Directive has successfully catalysed public sector data supply and reuse, although the implementation of High-Value Datasets remains uneven and technical fragmentation persists. Conversely, the Free Flow of Non-Personal Data Regulation has demonstrated limited effectiveness in removing data localisation requirements, hampered by the national security exemption and legal uncertainty regarding mixed datasets. The Data Governance Act is in a nascent stage; its impact is currently constrained by delayed national implementation and low uptake of data intermediation and altruism models due to unclear incentives. Cross-cutting analysis highlights challenges in regulatory coherence, particularly concerning personal data protection and the lack of sustainable business models for data sharing. The study recommends strengthening national coordination, harmonising legal definitions and developing clearer operational guidance to realise a unified European single market for data.
This study directly informed the #digitalomnibus released late last year.
The final report of the study is available at the following link: Study supporting the evaluation of the free flow of non-personal data regulation, open data directive and data governance act – Publications Office of the EU