The EC adopt a strategy which emphasizes the need to further accelerate the green and digital transitions, to increase the resilience of EU industrial ecosystems and to advance Europe’s competitiveness and sovereignty. Moreover, as systems and organizations must understand each other’s data, information, and processes, this is expressed a general level in the European Interoperability Framework, EIF, and the Interoperable Europe Act.
Digital decade Added to Green deal
The EC continues to make progress on several target construction issues – digital building permit, digital building logbooks (DBL) – and more generally on e-procurement, Taxonomy, Level(s) framework, CPR DG GROW is continuing its efforts to link the “Digital decade” and the “Green deal” with a strategy announced in March 2023: “Transition Pathway for Construction” (https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/53854 ). It is not the only one acting: EU DG EISMEA (Innovation), EU DG FISMA (Financial), EU DG Connect and of course EU DG Climate are also working on digitalization and data continuity. For instance, EU funding instruments are supporting efforts to protect the EU’s infrastructure against climate change, such as the InvestEU program and the cohesion and regional development funds. There is also another program for a Digital Europe.
In 2019, the Commission adopted a long-term vision – the European Green Deal – with the aim of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The European Climate Law, passed in 2021, enshrined in EU legislation the target of climate neutrality by 2050 (i.e. net-zero greenhouse gas emissions), along with an intermediate target of reducing net emissions by 55 % by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. In order to achieve this transformation, the European Green Deal entailed a set of legislative proposals, many of which related to energy. In July and December 2021 the Commission published the ‘fit for 55’ package (referring to the goal of a 55 % emissions reduction by 2030). The legislative proposals included the revision of several energy-related pieces of legislation to align them with the new climate targets: the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Energy Taxation Directive and the gas and hydrogen package. New proposals included the Social Climate Fund (SCF) Regulation.
Three of these legislative acts – the RED, the EED and the SCF – were adopted in 2023; the rest are ongoing. There are also initiatives at European level as several JRC reports have been published since 2021 on Net Zero Carbon and construction (JRC Publications Repository – Assessing Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) development in Europe (europa.eu)); also the WBCSD’s PACT program (Le Partenariat pour la transparence carbone (PACT) jette les bases d’un échange normalisé de données sur les émissions – World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)) is supported by the EU.
EC and data policies
The European Commission has made data a central pillar of its digital strategy. To regulate its use and foster innovation, several regulations now shape the landscape. The Data Governance Act (DGA), in force since 2023, establishes a trusted framework for the secure sharing of data between public and private actors. It promotes the reuse of sensitive public-sector information, sets up independent mediation bodies (“data intermediaries”), and encourages the development of data-sharing services that respect confidentiality.
Adopted in 2024, the Data Act complements this framework by defining the conditions for access, portability, and sharing of data generated by connected devices and digital services. It requires manufacturers and service providers to ensure fair access to the data produced by their equipment, while also regulating public authorities’ access in exceptional situations such as natural disasters or health emergencies. The text also sets out clear rules for contracts between businesses, aiming to prevent unfair practices and ensure a more balanced distribution of value.
Together, these two regulations lay the foundations for a European single market for data. The ambition is twofold: to boost the competitiveness and innovation capacity of businesses, while guaranteeing an ethical framework based on transparency, trust, and the protection of fundamental rights.