07.07.2023
Data Act Update – Co-Legislator Agreement
A preliminary agreed text of the co-legislators for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (Data Act) issued on the 30 June 2023. With the introduction of a Data Act, the European Commission hopes to establish a horizontal framework for the sharing of non-personal/ machine generated data by introducing obligations that give users access to the data they generate.
Leaseurope has been very active on this file the past 18 months, working both independently and within the AFCAR alliance, the latter of which is made up of numerous independent service providers (ISPs). Through these channels we have sought to ensure that our specific set of concerns, reflecting the views of our Member Associations and their constituent members, are accounted for when finalising the text of the Data Act.
The item of most interest to Leaseurope members has been the issue of what is considered a “User” for the purposes of the Data Act. It was considered necessary for leasing and rental companies that any definition of “User” must suitably reflect the practical circumstance of the tri-partite contractual relationship that exists under a leasing and rental contract. Only this would allow leasing and rental companies to continue to provide a compelling service offering and allow them to continue to develop innovative and competitive service offerings in the future, much of which will be determined by the ease of access to data. Considering that, this original definition was identified as a potential issue that could lead to regulatory arbitrage as it was defined in the original proposal. The negotiated text that has now accounts for much of our concerns, including the definition of a “User”.
Now the Data Act is approved by both co-legislators, the agreed text will be sent to the Commission to finalise and can then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
