Unlocking the Data Economy: The EU Data Act in Practice – State of Play, Regulatory Interplay, and Future Ambitions

  • Panel
  • Café
  • Thursday 21.05 — 16:00 - 17:15

Organising Institution

Dutch Association for AI Lawyers (VAI-A)

Netherlands

The Dutch Association for AI Lawyers (VAI-A) is the first association in Europe specifically for lawyers with an interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Its aim is to acquire and disseminate knowledge about the legal aspects of AI.
  • Academic 2
  • Business 3
  • Policy 1
The Data Act, in force since September 2025, is reshaping Europe’s data economy by introducing new rules for fairness, access, and innovation. This panel brings together experts from academia, industry, and legal practice to explore its early real‑world impact, the challenges emerging in implementation, and how it interacts with the broader EU digital rulebook, including the GDPR, DSA, DMA and AI Act. We will discuss practical issues faced by manufacturers, cloud providers and data users; the complexities of overlapping regulatory obligations; and the implications for competitiveness and compliance. Finally, the panel will consider the Data Act’s forward‑looking role as a foundation for future European data‑sharing frameworks, from financial and health data spaces to sector‑specific legislation, and assess whether it is delivering on its promise to enable innovation while safeguarding rights and reducing burdens on businesses.

Questions to be answered

  1. What early implementation challenges are organisations facing under the Data Act, and how are different sectors adapting in practice?
  2. To what extent does the Data Act support or hinder Europe’s AI and data‑driven innovation ecosystem?
  3. How will future EU data‑sharing frameworks—such as financial, health and in‑vehicle data spaces—build on the Data Act’s foundations?
  4. Is the Data Act truly empowering Europe’s data economy, or is it at risk of becoming the EU’s most ambitious regulatory overreach yet?