With its European Data Strategy, the European Commission aims to maximise the value created by data. The Commission sees particular potential in the reuse of data and therefore specifically promotes the sharing of data by several legislative and administrative measures (EC, A European Strategy for Data, 2020). However, despite the proven benefits of data sharing and the many legislative measures, willingness to share data remains low. In the opinion of the author of this article, the reason for this lies in an insufficiently clear definition of the problem, which is necessary for its effective solution. In the author’s view, the core problem of data sharing is the so-called value-for-risk dilemma, whereby data is only shared if the individuals involved see significantly more value in data sharing than (compliance) risks and costs. This equation, which is simple in theoretical terms, poses considerable challenges for data sharing in practice. The cause of this can be found in the extremely high level of effort required to coordinate the technical, organisational and legal aspects at the various data governance layers. Legislators can use this analytical framework to take more targeted impact at one point or another in this equation, as can those who apply the law. The author takes the European Commission's current draft of its Digital Omnibus Law as a starting point to illustrate the effectiveness of the analytical framework using various suggestions for improvement for more effective and efficient regulation.
