Policy Briefing — EU Data Act Proposal
The European Commission proposed the Data Act to unlock industrial data sharing, mandate fairness in cloud switching, and clarify data access for training AI systems.
The Data Act draft regulation introduces harmonised rules on access to and use of data generated by connected products and services. It ensures users can port data, imposes safeguards on business-to-government access, and requires cloud providers to remove switching charges and technical barriers.
- AI training clarity. The proposal obliges data holders to provide access under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms, affecting AI training datasets.
- SME protections. SMEs benefit from contract fairness rules that prevent unfair contractual clauses in data sharing agreements.
- Cloud interoperability. Providers must offer interoperability standards and transition support to mitigate vendor lock-in.
Product teams should assess how Data Act duties influence European data sourcing and model retraining plans.