With the Data Act, the European Commission has proposed a comprehensive regulation to establish a horizontal framework for industrial, non-personal data sharing in the European Union. The regulation will bring a significant change to the business environment.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise fully supports initiatives that aim at creating a more vibrant data economy. A Data Act that complies with existing policy provisions in the digital policy area could encourage stakeholders to share data with appropriate safeguards, encouraging innovation and creating a positive investment climate in the sector. Parts of the proposal is however worrying, not least the data sharing obligations that also include data that contains trade secrets.
The application of trade secrets in the context of shared data needs thorough discussions. The inter-institutional negotiations within the Council of the EU and the European Parliament are however moving very fast.
Trade secrets refers to information that businesses keep secret and that has value because other businesses do not have access to it. Trade secrets are protected by law based on the Trade Secrets Directive. For many businesses, trade secrets are just as important as patents and trademarks. But what use is this protection if information can no longer be kept secret because it must be shared with others?
The co-legislators must ensure the proper application of the Trade Secrets Directive in the Data Act. Otherwise, the Data Act may result in a loss of competitiveness for the European industry.
You can read our full position on the Data Act Proposal below.
EUData