During the plenary session (24-25 March 2021) in the European Parliament in Brussels, MEPs debate on a European strategy for data. Opening statements by Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, by Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK) IMCO, Axel VOSS (EPP, DE) JURI, Marina KALJURAND (S&D, EE) LIBE, and by Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Joint debate on a European strategy for data: opening statements

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ewa KOPACZ(EPP, PL), chair, Before we move to the next point on the agenda, I would like to say that the EPP has given us some decisions with regard to the committees and delegations. There are some changes that will come into force now. And now let me move on to the joint debate on the EU strategy, on data. Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, the European Strategy for Data and the Commission Statement Commission evaluation report on the implementation of the GDP regulation two years after its application.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ewa KOPACZ(EPP, PL), chair, I should like to remind members that for all debates of this past session, there will be no catch-the-eye procedure and no blue cards will be accepted. Furthermore, as during the last part sessions, remote interventions from parliament's liaison offices in the member states are foreseen. Now, I would like to give the floor to Madame Kumpula-Natri. You have six minutes.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, Dear colleagues, I'm happy to present European Parliament's draught report for the European data strategy. We believe that this strategy will be a basis for the European businesses and their global competitiveness. It will define the conditions for the fair data economy, which will lead to better services, sustainable growth and quality jobs.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, It must be designed the way to facilitate innovations, data access and flows interoperability and cross-border data portability. We must safeguard fair compensation and legal clarity for all actors. Covid-19 Crisis has highlighted even more the role and need for the high quality, real time data sharing. Data can be used to predict and treat diseases and understand better how viruses spread.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&amp;D, FI), rapporteur, Future data legislation must be based on the EU's rules and values: privacy, transparency and respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms. Human-centric data policy is at the heart of the European Parliament position. As GDPR is another topic this morning, the right to data portability and other rights provided by the general data protection regulation must be untouched, but the tools to use these rights must be reinforced.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, Data strategy must support and contribute to the sustainability of the Green Deal and union climate targets, as well as the resilient recovery of the union's economy and social cohesion. During our process, the commission gave already the legal proposal for the Data Governance Act. I warmly thank the discussions during the way. We fully support the creation of the data governance framework and common European data bases.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, In this report, we touch various ways how to get data out from the silos to benefit Europe in the machine readable format. Parliament insist that the data governance must be built on the decentralised data operating environment that will support the emergence of interoperable and secure data ecosystems in various sectors. If I would pick one of the most important messages from this report to the negotiations of the DTA, I would highlight the need of the interoperability and standards.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, Well formed APIs could provide essential access to data and interoperability would enable real time data flows between the different actors. We still expect the important legislative proposal on the Data Act to clarify data access rights and flows, business to business, business to government, vice versa, and also between current governmental actors. The economic growth can be secured by ensuring a level playing field and a competitive multiplayer and fair market economy.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, We don't want to see monopoly markets on the data. Data sharing culture and voluntary data sharing schemes must be encouraged by example, fair contractual model agreements and security measures, but also market imbalances must be tackled. Business-to-business contractual agreements do not always necessarily guarantee adequate access to SMEs owing to disparities in the negotiation power. Actors' rights -and obligations to access to data they have been involved in generating- must be in the focus.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, This report highlights also the role of the public sector in fostering an innovative and competitive data economy. We call for EU institutions and member states to lead by example and put in place real time services based on the real time quality data. Let me take some other important topics I want to highlight. First, infrastructure. The success on the data and AI strategies depend on the wider OECD systems.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, We must close the digital gap, accelerate technological developments and innovation investments on cutting edge technologies. We wait for the cloud rulebook to happen and welcome new cloud initiatives, but also high performance computing and so on. Also on the climate digital sector has a significant potential to contribute to reduction of the emissions. We call for modern, energy efficient solutions fit for our climate goals.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, Also, cybersecurity framework is needed for data, economy and also deployment. And as, for example, the 5G toolbox. Union growth potential depends on the skills of its population and workforce, from overall digital literacy to software engineering and talent to build European Know-How on the next generation technologies. Data economy goes hand in hand with AI and AI relies on high quality and increased data availability.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, We must prevent all kind of biases, especially gender, from being reflected in AI applications. Transparency on algorithms is a priority and we must focus on employment on women in tech to help this. And working life. We call in the strategy social partners to explore the potential of the digitalisation data and A.I. for increasing sustainable productivity while respecting workers rights.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI), rapporteur, To increase trust, employees should have right to know where, how the data is collected, stored and shared. And I conclude with the global perspective. Establishing international framework for data sharing and international rules with like minded third countries is a role that EU has to take seriously. Parliament calls for a free flow of data with proper rules in place, and this and funding and legislative proposal make this reality. I thank all of colleagues, my shadows and all seven committees who provided material for this report. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), IMCO, Data is the oil of our time. Data is essential for economic growth, for sustainability and for innovation, and not the least for creating jobs in Europe. For that reason, we have to create a single market for data which is free and fair and secure, both for citizens and for enterprises.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), IMCO, This kind of balance is something we address in this report. We have to be very certain that citizens have data security while enterprises have access. So we have to have voluntary access sharing. We make demands on enterprises, we create space for innovations. And we also have to ensure that all EU member states follow along.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&D, DK), IMCO, We don't need several years to update a standard. So that's why we need the Commission to have a fast track for standards. The new data initiatives should ensure an efficient and safe access to data which creates genuine values for citizens and enterprises in Europe.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Axel VOSS (EPP, DE), JURI, Madam President, Commissioner Reynders, I wonder whether we really have the desire and the force to survive digitally. If you want to survive in global digital competition, you need data spaces. You need access to data analysis and the possibility to share data. We have to be innovation friendly at the same time based on principles.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Axel VOSS (EPP, DE), JURI, We have to create the framework conditions. And the commission has done some very good preparatory work in this regard. But this is a question of the courage and determination of our action. I think that is lacking when it comes to modernising the general data protection regulation. Some colleagues and parts of the commission still seem to believe that you can have digital success without personal data.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Axel VOSS (EPP, DE), JURI, There are possibilities of achieving a competition and data protection at the same time, you just have to want to do so and make it possible. If we don't manage to do this, we will simply remain a data colony of the United States or of China. And that isn't really a sign that we really want to survive in this competition.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Marina KALJURAND (S&D, EE), LIBE, Thank you, president, commissioner, I will continue in Estonian. Colleagues, the European data strategy is a very important step towards the better use of the data. We have to remember that we can't forget the person, the person who is in the centre of our decisions to make better decisions about data.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Marina KALJURAND (S&D, EE), LIBE, How do we protect the person? We have to take the interest of the concrete person into account. Do it according to our values, norms and standards. One of the cornerstones of our data strategy has to be the e-privacy legal acts. In addition to that, we have to make better possibilities, guarantee better possibilities to people to use our rights, the data literacy and the possibility to decide upon one's own data.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Marina KALJURAND (S&D, EE), LIBE, GDPR has been successful, it has become an international standard when we talk about using personal data, but there are some minuses as well about the financing of the supervision agencies. We have to pay more attention to those topics if we want the GDPR to function as it should. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Thank you, Madam President. Honourable members, I would like to start by thanking you for today's debate, both on the European strategy for data and the Commission report published in June last year on the general data protection regulation on the European strategy for data. So first of all, I'm replacing my colleague Thierry Breton, but I'd like to thank the committee members and rapporteur, Mr Kumpula-Natri for the very thorough report and the associated committees for their opinions too.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, When the Commission published its European strategy for data in February last year, we couldn't imagine what an extraordinarily turbulent year we had ahead. Obviously, the covid-19 pandemic was one thing, but that crisis also made it very clear how important data and digital technology were when one is facing unprecedented challenges. The commission shares the rapporteurs' view that the potential of data has not been fully exploited yet in Europe.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, One reason for this being a lack of trust in data sharing, lack of confidence in data sharing, and a lack of standards for circulating data between sectors and between member states. The commission also shares the view that we should be able to put our own European stamp on a data based society on the basis of our common values. Europe needs to take its own strategic interests in hand to a greater extent with an open economy and in relation to what we've already seen with the GDPR ensuring that both companies and citizens in Europe have control over their own data.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, So the European strategy for data aims to create a single market for data. Data will then be able to circulate between sectors between member states, and a high quality data would be available for innovation and value creation, minimising the environmental footprint and protecting personal data. In November last year, as you know, the commission approved a draught regulation on European data governance, which is the first element of the strategy.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The idea here being the data value voluntarily made available by data holders can be reused, making data available with full trust in intermediaries and improving data sharing mechanisms within the EU. Something which can benefit competition. Executing act should be prepared by some of the high value data as a whole so that high quality data arising from the public sector can be made available for reuse.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Right across the territory of the EU, free of charge in machine readable and API-compatible format. The Commission will also propose a data act by the end of the year legislative initiative intending to improve equality in the data economy, rights of use, business to government and business to business configurations primarily.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, And these are initiatives which are or will be fully in line with existing data protection and fundamental rights legislation, together with the fundamental trading rules which the EU follows. The strategy also plans for the common European data spaces for strategic areas and areas in the public interest, which the Commission intends to support.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The Digital Europe programme is the second, and the second interconnection programme will also play a vital role in achieving our aims of strengthening European data infrastructure and using it in a way which shares full respect for European values. We also call on industry to invest in data infrastructure, and we call on member states to use the facility, the Recovery and Resilience Facility to work on a multi country basis for this.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, I would like to move on now to the second item under discussion. I am very pleased to note that the Parliament has decided to discuss the commission evaluation report on the implementation of the general data protection regulation two years after its application today and to express its opinion in a resolution. The LIBE Committee's draft resolution is music to my ears, placing the GDPR at the forefront of global data protection work, also referring to the need to focus on effective implementation of the instrument.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We also share the evaluation of the main challenges which we'll be facing over coming months and years. Firstly, we need to support our SMEs to facilitate GDPR compliance. The commission will provide financial support to national data protection authorities in their efforts to tackle and to communicate with the general public and to assist SMEs.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We will also be developing practical instruments to provide support to SMEs, which will be ready by summer. National Data Protection authorities are the cornerstone of the effective application of the GDPR and it is up to them and to national courts to enforce its rules. We need to continue to closely monitor the resources allocated to them, while noting that many have benefited from increases in recent years.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We also need to facilitate cooperation in cross-border cases. We welcome the European Data Protection Board new procedures to ensure that the one stop shop mechanism functions effectively, recognise that more must be done towards the European data protection culture, also amongst data protection authorities and notably within the EDPB.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The commission is working towards this objective with regard to some national divergences in the application of the GDPR. We will continue our discussions with the member states and consider how those issues can be best addressed. Let me say generally that if GDPR provisions are violated, the commission does not shy away from having recourse to all the tools at its disposal, including infringement proceedings.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We also use harmonisation tools such as the standard contractual clauses for intra EU transfers to help the consumers and processors across the EU to comply with the GDPR, and to use the same set of clauses. As the recent proposal on the Digital Grenn Certificate shows, the commission strives to ensure the highest level of personal data protection in line with the GDPR in its initiatives.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, We systematically ask the opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor, as well as four major proposals like the certificate of the EDPB. In this context, I would like to address more generally the relationship between the GDPR and technological development as already demonstrated during the covid pandemic, the GDPR allows for developing innovative tools in compliance with fundamental rights.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Being technologically neutral, the GDPR frames innovations but does not preclude it. A precondition for this is that the GDPR is also interpreted and enforced in a technological and natural way.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Dear members, in the current pandemic, it is clear to us more than ever to what extent protection of fundamental rights, especially privacy, is vital. The GDPR includes the necessary flexibility in order for us to meet the challenges of our times, for example, in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. Our response is not to erect barriers, but to remain open to an exchange of data in such a way as to ensure continuity of data protection, protection of privacy and liberalising the free flow of data for business purposes can go hand in hand.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, An increasing number of countries around the world agree that modern data protection regime needs to be in place with a lot of common ground with the GDPR. And in this way, countries such as Brazil, Japan, South Korea, India, Kenya, will cooperate.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, On a bilateral basis we have set up with Japan the world's largest area of safe data flows. We will finalise soon a similar arrangement with South Korea, and we have a draft to adequacy decisions in relation to the UK. Following the recent case of the European Court of Justice on the Privacy Shield, we are engaging with the United States to reach a solid and legally sound arrangement.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Moreover, we are working with Like-Minded Partners to define standards at multilateral level. I'm thinking, for instance, to the promising work taking place at the level of the OECD on developing common principles and access to data by public authorities. We are also pushing debates in the WTO as concerns data protection in e-commerce context. I look forward to our debate today and to your final resolution. Of course, as always, your resolutions will inspire our work and offer us to better myself and the entire commission a roadmap of the key objectives to achieve. Thank you very much.

Joint debate on a European strategy for data: opening statements

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