EFAMRO and ESOMAR have submitted a response to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on the European Data Union Strategy
The Consultation Response address:
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- EFAMRO and ESOMAR support the European Commission’s initiative to develop a coordinated European Data Union Strategy.
- We welcome the strategy’s goals to:
- Promote data sharing.
- Enhance data quality.
- Address regulatory fragmentation and legal uncertainty.
- Clarify and improve international data transfer mechanisms.
- Facilitate voluntary data access to boost competitiveness and innovation in the EU data economy.
- The response highlights ongoing challenges since the GDPR’s implementation, particularly:
- Ambiguity in assigning data protection roles (controller, joint controller, processor) across complex data chains.
- Inconsistent interpretation of GDPR scientific research provisions across member states.
- We call for:
- Clearer and more harmonised interpretations of GDPR rules.
- Resolution of uncertainties around exemptions for specific processing activities.
- Better alignment between the GDPR, AI Act, and ePrivacy Directive to support ethical, transparent, and legitimate research while safeguarding digital rights.
