Cooperative di dati e offerta di servizi a valore aggiunto

In line with the European data strategy, Regulation (EU) 2022/868 (Data Governance Act, DGA) has introduced a horizontal regulatory framework for data intermediation services, including those of data cooperatives, with the objective of promoting such services, on the assumption that they play a key role in the data economy in order to foster data sharing. However, the discipline envisaged for these services is particularly strict with respect to the data operations permitted for data intermediaries and the services they can provide, with negative impacts on data cooperatives in particular, thus raising doubts as to its effectiveness in pursuing its intended goal. Essential in this context are the provisions on value-added services (Art. 12(e) DGA), which authorise data intermediaries, within certain limits, to provide tools and services other than those necessary for the mere implementation of data exchange. The aim of this paper is therefore to analyse the main characteristics of this discipline and then to examine some of the issues relating to its application in the case of data cooperatives, in order to provide some initial indications for an interpretation that is attentive to the specific needs underlying these peculiar organisations. Specific attention is paid to the possibility of benefiting from the provisions on additional services for the implementation of “data pools” within data cooperatives, which is of paramount importance to enable the data valorisation capabilities of these entities.