European Commission launches consultation on data sovereignty
EU data sovereignty concerns include localisation barriers, discriminatory rules and sensitive data leakage.
The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation on data sovereignty, seeking feedback on challenges affecting EU organisations, cross-border data flows and strategic data dependencies.
The consultation targets stakeholders across the data value chain and a range of economic sectors. It seeks input on data-related dependencies, including barriers to accessing or using data in third countries, obstacles to transferring data into the EU, and risks associated with third-country access to sensitive data.
The European Commission supports the Data Union Strategy adopted in November 2025, which aims to strengthen the EU’s data sovereignty and reinforce its position in international data flows.
The initiative is also linked to the European Tech Sovereignty Package, which covers semiconductors, AI, cloud computing and open-source technologies. According to the Commission, these measures are intended to strengthen Europe’s digital autonomy and support its ambition to become an AI continent.
The consultation will remain open until 8 September 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
Why does it matter?
The consultation reflects the EU’s growing view that data sovereignty is both an economic competitiveness issue and a matter of strategic security. By examining cross-border data flows, third-country access and data dependencies, the Commission is seeking to reduce vulnerabilities while preserving trusted international data exchanges.
The exercise also highlights how data governance is becoming a central pillar of the EU’s broader technology sovereignty agenda. The feedback received could help shape future policies on cloud services, AI, digital infrastructure and international data transfers as Europe seeks to balance openness with greater strategic autonomy.
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