Date: 

Data is key

How sustainability and the EU data strategy go hand in hand

The EU has launched a number of new regulations in recent months - and they all have one thing in common. The Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD), Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and, in future, the Green Claims Directive (GCD) and the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) all demand one thing: traceability. All of these new EU legal acts demand that supply chains, properties and advertising claims must be transparent and traceable at all times.   

In order to achieve the traceability required by the legislator, a huge amount of data must be collected, processed and exchanged along the value chain. This data is usually already available and would be ideally suited to provide the basis for statements or the fulfilment of reporting obligations.

Here are some examples:

  • Consumption of vehicles in a logistics fleet (for the purposes of CO2 reporting) or data from agricultural machinery (to prove the correct use of fertilisers or pesticides)
  • Data on working conditions (wages, working hours) from ERP or HR systems
  • Data on product origin and materials used (digital product passport, external sources on deforestation such as satellite images)
  • Data on whereabouts and disposal (receipts in ERP systems)

So it would all be very simple: in a world of available data, reports are generated almost automatically and the insights gained from them - using AI, among other things - can also lead to enormous efficiency gains for companies if, for example, high consumption volumes or inefficient logistics become apparent.   

However, the reality currently looks very different: A variety of real or perceived obstacles stand in the way of data utilisation. Bitkom recently stated that data utilisation and exchange hardly takes place at companies.1 The most frequently cited reasons are data protection, uncertainty about the legal framework, fear of data misuse, lack of compatibility and the loss of business secrets.

The EU data strategy: an opportunity or a burden?

The EU has certainly recognised this problem and, with the EU Data Strategy, has issued a large number of regulations to promote data access, use and exchange. And it is worthwhile for companies to take a closer look at precisely these regulations.

  • Access to device data: For example, detailed usage data (e.g. specific consumption) is available in modern vehicles. However, these cannot be extracted by the companies using them because the manufacturers have not yet enabled access to such data.
    This is where the EU Data Act comes to the rescue with its claim to data from ‘networked products’. Data from the entire range of consumer products (e.g. a dishwasher), tractors and complex production machines will soon be available. And this data can be used for more than just reporting level 3 consumption information. There is also the potential for optimising use (such as predictive maintenance, better training of personnel in use or even digital twins of entire buildings or infrastructures). 
  • Data exchange and standardisation: The exchange of data often fails due to technical hurdles, as data silos prevail and there is a lack of interoperability. 
    The EU wants Data Spaces to create the basis for data exchange in areas such as mobility, agriculture and the supply chain.2 Some long-term research programmes such as Gaia-X, Mobility Data Space or Ag-riDataSpace exist to create Data Spaces.   
    The digital product passport, which is crucial for the circular economy, will also ‘dock’ onto these data spaces, as in the case of Catena-X, the data space for the automotive industry.3 These initiatives are accompanied by the EU's standardisation activities as part of the ‘European Trusted Data Framework’, which aims to remove technical barriers to data exchange.4
    The European Health Data Space, which even provides for the mandatory secondary use of health data as a regulation, gives a foretaste of more far-reaching measures in the area of sustainability data.

It is all very easy - or is it?

The EU recognises the need for data exchange and is promoting it with various measures. However, despite these ambitions on the part of European legislators, the practical exchange of data remains a challenge for companies. 

  • Know your data: Companies need to understand what data they have or need. A real data strategy and a good inventory of data are still in short supply in many companies. This is the basis for data utilisation, but also for data protection and data security. 
  • Protection of business secrets: Data reveals a lot, even about things that a company would prefer to keep to itself. For example, the journeys made by a vehicle fleet reveal not only the consumption figures but also the way in which it organises its journeys and where, for example, lucrative and less lucrative routes run, knowledge of which could also be helpful for competitors when designing their offers.This means that before data is passed on, it must be ensured that business secrets are identified and the necessary protective measures are taken. 
  • Data protection: The ‘elephant in the room’ remains data protection. This is because data protection remains ‘untouched’ in all EU initiatives in the new data laws and initiatives. As a result, the economic impetus desired by the EU will fail to materialise as long as the ambiguities in data protection law and the excessive national interpretations of data protection law criticised in the ‘Draghi Report’ persist (‘gold plating’).5 There is hope here that - as the new Federal Data Protection Commissioner promises - constructive solutions and ‘corridors of possibility’ will be created in the future.6 
  • Legal uncertainties: What rights exist to data, what do data sharing agreements look like? There are still many questions here too. But standards are already emerging. The EU is developing standard contractual clauses for data exchange and sector-specific drafts are also increasingly being created and made available.7 

What does this mean for companies?

So things are moving forward - and that should give many companies hope. Hope that they definitely need, especially in the current volatile times: rarely have there been so many challenges for companies. They are confronted with a genuine economic downturn, a comprehensive change in technology and climate change, while also having to deal with regulatory requirements.   

All of this is putting a strain on companies' existing business models. However, these challenges can be overcome - and the key to overcoming them lies in data. However, this requires that decision-makers always think about topics such as sustainability, innovation and regulation together with data - and simplify the exchange of this very data. 

In doing so, they should not allow themselves to be restricted by the usual concerns. After all, it is possible to use data while protecting data privacy, business secrets and data security.



1 Bitkom (2024): German companies hardly use their data. https://www.bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Deutsche-Unternehmen-nutzen-ihre-Daten-kaum. [As of 28 January 2025]

2 European Commission (2024): European Green Deal Data Space: moving to implementation. URL: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/events/european-green-deal-data-space-moving-implementation-2024-03-06_en [as of 28 January 2025]

3 Catena-X (2024): Digital Product Passports as enablers for the Circular Economy. URL: https://catena-x.net/fileadmin/user_upload/Publikationen_und_WhitePaper_des_Vereins/2407_DPP_Circular_Economy_WP_v1.pdf. [Status: 28.01.2025]

4 European Commission (2024): Draft standardisation request as regards European Trusted Data Framework. URL: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/62854. [Status: 28 January 2025]

5 European Commission (2024): The future of European competitiveness. URL: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/ec1409c1-d4b4-4882-8bdd-3519f86bbb92_en?filename=The%20future%20of%20European%20competitiveness_%20In-depth%20analysis%20and%20recommendations_0.pdf. [As at: 28 January 2025]

6 BfDI (2024): New BfDI takes office. URL: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2024/10_Neue-BfDI.html?nn=251944. [As at: 28 January 2025]

7 E.g. the EU model contract clauses. Cf. EU Commission (2024): Series of webinars: The Data Act in contracts. URL: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/events/series-webinars-data-act-contracts