DIGITALEUROPE Congratulates the IMCO Committee on Free Flow of Data

Today the IMCO Committee in the European Parliament approved its opinion for the Free Flow of non- personal Data (FFoD). The regulation will ensure a 5th freedom of movement in EU, namely the free movement of data, and help boost Europe’s capabilities to generate jobs, growth and deliver valuable AItechnologies.

“It is truly great that the European Parliament has passed the regulation accelerating the Free Flow of Data in the EU. The Free Flow of Data will bring Europeans closer together, and few files in history will have the impact on growth as this one. It will deliver concrete results towards a real Digital Single Market.

The Free Flow of Data brings us a major step closer to a situation where companies can grow in the European Market not only in the national market, research can be based on European data not domestic data, and citizens can educate themselves in Europe not only in their home country.

We hope the Council will buy in to the European Parliament’s ambitions in this field”, voiced Cecilia Bonefeld- Dahl, Director-General of DIGITALEUROPE

DIGITALEUROPE remains vigilant on the final conclusions on the the FFoD during the upcoming trilogues. It would be critical to the future of the EU that any last-minute negotiations will not add exceptions or narrow the scope in any way. In particular, any attempt from the Member States to remove public authority data from scope would handicap the EU’s efforts to exploit its vast amounts of data which is necessary to compete internationally in the race to develop new technologies such as AI.