EU Council approves reform to break down barriers for free movement of data

The regulation should make it easier to switch cloud providers or recover data from them

The European Council, a body formed of the heads of state or government for the 28 member states, has approved a reform to the way that movement of data is treated in the European Union. The reform aims to remove barriers to the free movement of non-personal data in the EU.

According to the Council, the new rules are designed to boost the data economy and the development of emerging technologies, like the autonomous border control system that the Hungarian police are currently testing.

The text of the document identifies two main barriers to the development of the EU's data economy: data localisation requirements put in place by Member States' authorities, and vendor lock-in practices in the private sector.

The reform bans member states from imposing data localisation restrictions on a geographical location for storing or processing non-personal data (unless justified on the grounds of public security). The Council notes that ‘Member states' authorities will continue to have access to data even when it is located in another country'.

The regulation should also make it easier for users of data processing services to switch providers, or migrate their data back to their own IT systems, through the development of codes of conduct.

Margarete Schramböck, Council president and Austrian Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, said, "Strengthening the data sector will improve Europe's competitiveness. The free flow of data is key for growth and creating jobs, and will provide more flexibility for our companies. From now on they will be able to choose the cloud provider that suits them best."

The European Parliament approved the reform on the 4th October, and the Council on the 9th October, following a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on the 19th June. Both institutions will sign the regulation during the Parliament's plenary session in mid-November; it will then be published in the EU Official Journal. It will be directly applicable in all member states six months after its publication.

The UK is due to leave the European Union at the end of March next year, but will still need to abide by its rules during the transition period until the 31st December 2019.