On 23 February 2022, the EU Commission presented a proposal for a Data Act. The Data Act is part of the European Commission’s European Strategy for Data, which complements the Data Governance Act, a draft Act designed to facilitate data sharing across sectors and EU Member States.This sets out important principles, such as:

– The right of users to access those data generated by the use of connected products.
– The ability to transfer data access rights to a third party provider of their choice. Aftermarket repair and maintenance services and access to diagnostic information are explicitly included.
– Manufacturers will in turn be required to make the data transparent and “easily accessible” to the user.
– At the same time, manufacturers are restricted in monitoring the activities of the user or third parties.
– Compensation for the costs of providing data, especially for SMEs, will also be regulated.

The EU has set itself the goal of creating suitable framework conditions so that a strong European data economy can develop. The current proposal for a data law is a first important step in this direction. However, this data law alone will not be sufficient for the automotive aftermarket sector. A sector-specific legislation is urgently needed to transfer the principles and provisions of the Data Act into concrete legal and technical measures for the automotive sector. Sector-specific regulation is necessary because it is the only way to create the trust and incentives that...