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~ Wijnand Jongen ~

COLUMN

INTERNATIONAL DATA FLOWS ARE VITAL TO FULLY
UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF THE EU’S DATA ECONOMY

Digital transition” has become a buzzword in a share in the data economy in a way that is fruitful and
recent years and increasingly plays a role in all does not create unnecessary obstacles, hindering growth and
“sectors of society. This also includes the Euro- innovation.
pean Union’s Single Market, whose digital counter-
part is rapidly gaining ground. The evolution of the The Data Act as an important first step for the data
European data economy has proved to be one of the market
EU’s current flagship projects, with the European At Ecommerce Europe, we, therefore, consider the European
Commission aiming to remove barriers to access and Commission’s proposed Data Act, which saw the light of day
exchange data while still preserving incentives to in February 2022, to be a welcoming addition to strengthen
invest in data generation. and expand the Digital Single Market. The Data Act, which is
currently subject to discussion within the EU machinery, aims
The data economy is undoubtedly here to stay. It has to make data more accessible to all. Once adopted, it will
originally been associated mainly with big tech companies allow for a myriad of opportunities for data-driven innovation
and online platforms deriving data from their users for the and ultimately contribute to promoting a more competitive
purpose of targeted advertising. Yet, the data economy entails environment for businesses operating within the data market.
massive untapped potential, also for small and medium- One of the key elements of the file that especially stand out
sized players to develop new products and services, as well to me is the focus on ensuring fairer market conditions for
as to optimise already existing ones. Currently, only 20% of small and medium-sized enterprises.
industrial data is used, and that is indeed a shame. Especially
so when taking into account that data is a non-rival good For Ecommerce Europe, which to a large extent represents
which can be accessed and used by multiple people and SMEs, it is important to lay down rules combating unfair
businesses without it affecting the quality or supply of the contractual terms. We must indeed “[rebalance] the
data. negotiation power
“THE DATA ECONOMY ENTAILS MASSIVE for SMEs by
As such, data preventing abuse
UNTAPPED POTENTIAL, ALSO FOR SMALL AND
constitutes an of contractual
incomparable imbalances in data
MEDIUM-SIZED PLAYERS TO DEVELOP NEW
commodity that sharing contracts.”
more enterprises Following the line
should incorporate PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, AS WELL AS TO of thought that
into their business the Commission
OPTIMISE ALREADY EXISTING ONES.”
model. We, has put forward
therefore, need to in its proposal, I
build an innovative, similarly consider it
fair, and competitive to be an important
market for data. This will contribute to boosting the step in developing and recommending non-binding model
European economy and bring about benefits for businesses, contractual terms. This would ultimately help support
consumers, and society as a whole. This will, of course, not companies, and SMEs in particular, to have a stronger
happen overnight. position when negotiating contracts on data access, use and
sharing.
On the one hand, there is still a need to inform and educate
European businesses on how they can take part in and benefit When speaking of data sharing, it is also vital to ensure that
from the rising data market. On the other hand, there is businesses are not at risk of disclosing business-sensitive data,
also a great need for ensuring an efficient legal framework such as trade secrets, when transferring data in a B2B, B2C
that actually enables European businesses to actively take or even B2G context. Especially for the digital commerce

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