Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a framework for the free flow of non-personal data in the European Union

1. The European Commission’s Free Flow of Data initiative forms part of the Digital Single Market agenda and seeks to remove barriers to the free flow of data in the Single Market. The proposed regulation aims to achieve the following three objectives:

● To improve cross-border flows of non-personal data within the Single Market by prohibiting public bodies from imposing unjustified “data localisation” requirements;
● To ensure cross-border access to data within the Single Market for “competent authorities” (i.e. public bodies) for regulatory control purposes; and
● To facilitate data portability, in a business-to-business context with a view to, in turn, making it easier for data service users to switch data service provider.