German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged European authorities to start framing standardised rules on the use of data in the region.
The call comes ahead of her visit to the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover.
Merkel in her weekly video podcast said: “We want to create a digital single European market. This means, we must have comparable legal situations in all European countries.
“The Basic Regulation on Data Protection is very important for Europe.”
She said that an important issue lies in ascertaining the owner of the data and the copyright issues associated with it.
Merkel said: “And here we are still in the middle of the discussion.”
Citing the automobile sector as example, the Chancellor said that determining whether the data is owned by carmakers or software manufacturers is important, as there is a chance to develop new products.
Merkel said: “We need to very quickly and uniformly implement legislation in Europe regarding copyright laws and the ownership of data.”
In September last year, leading tech bodies from the UK, France and Germany called on the European Commission to refocus on the Digital Single Market, as current proposals are overly proscriptive and failing to embrace benefits of the digital revolution.
Germany’s Bitkom, France’s Syntec Numerique, and the UK’s techUK identified a number of areas where the Commission is risking veering off track, including the duplication of new data rules in the review of the ePrivacy Directive and proposals to undermine the freedom to hyperlink through new forms of ancillary copyright.
READ MORE: What to expect from CeBIT 2017: From 5G to AI & IoT
In May 2015, the Commission unveiled its 16 key actions for a Digital Single Market in the European Union (EU).
The Digital Single Market Strategy is based on three pillars: better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe; creating the right conditions and a level playing field for digital networks and innovative services to flourish; and “maximising the growth potential of the digital economy”.
