meta_id 3309303

On July 8, 2026, the European Commission opened a targeted consultation to gather views on challenges to data sovereignty and international data flows affecting European Union organisations. The consultation seeks to understand data-related dependencies impacting EU organisations, including barriers to accessing or using data in third countries, obstacles to transferring data to the EU, and risks linked to third-country access to sensitive data. The consultation addresses concerns outlined in the November 2025 Data Union Strategy, which emphasises the importance of safeguarding EU data sovereignty and strengthening the EU's global position on international data flows. It complements the European Tech Sovereignty Package, which contains measures to strengthen the EU's capacity in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and open source technologies. Together, these initiatives support Europe's ambition to become an AI continent, strengthen its digital autonomy, and build a more sustainable digital future. The Commission notes that data is essential for Europe's competitiveness and security and plays a key role in advancing AI. However, unjust data localisation requirements, discriminatory rules, and data leakage to third countries threaten to undermine sovereignty. The EU aims to ensure a level playing field, security, and consistency with EU values and interests while remaining open to trusted partners on cross-border data exchange. The targeted consultation is open to actors across the data value chain in different sectors. The comment period closes on September 8, 2026, at 23:59 Central European Summer Time (CEST). Responses can be submitted via the European Commission's consultation portal.