The EDPS issued its opinion on the  Communication “A European strategy for data” (the Data Strategy) and the  “White Paper on Artificial Intelligence – A European approach to excellence and trust” (the White Paper), issued by the European Commission which is going to adopt the EU regulatory framework which aims to address the human and ethical implications of AI.

The aim of the Data Strategy is to create a single European data space and thus make it easier for businesses and public authorities to access high-quality data to boost growth and create value.

Moreover, it should “enable the EU to become the most attractive, most secure and most dynamic data - agile economy in the world”. A key element of the Data Strategy is the development of common

European data spaces in strategic economic sectors and domains of public interest, such as the common European health data space.

Accordign to the EDPS the most important objectives of the Data Strategy should be to prove the viability and sustainability of an alternative data economy model - open, fair and democratic. Therefore, the envisaged common European data spaces should serve as an example of transparency, effective accountability and proper balance between the interests of the data subjects and the shared interest of the society as a whole.

 The aim of the White Paper is twofold: setting out policy options to promote the uptake of Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and to address ‘the risks associated with certain uses of this new technology’. To achieve such goals, the White Paper proposes a set of actions to foster the development and the adoption of AI and a new regulatory framework that would address concerns specific to AI that the current framework may not address. 

The EDPS very much welcomeed the White Paper’s numerous references to a European approach to AI, grounded in EU values and fundamental rights and the consideration given to the need for compliance with the European data protection legislation. 

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