FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT Frans Timmermans
European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
MINISTER FOR BUSINESS AND
GROWTH
21 November 2016
Dear First Vice-President Timmermans,
Europe can only benefit fully from data-driven technologies if the right
regulatory framework is established. And we urgently need to make cer-
tain that regulation does not constitute a barrier to innovative data-driven
technologies across borders. In that connection I congratulate you on the
recent adoption of the general data protection regulation that safeguards a
harmonised level of protection of personal data at a high level.
The next step is to establish a regulatory framework to tackle unjustified
data localisation requirements as barriers to the free flow of data and I
would like to present our instructive experience with lifting data localisa-
tion requirements in Denmark. Due to a growing request from businesses
to be able to store electronic financial records abroad without having to
obtain a dispensation the Danish Bookkeeping Act was changed in 2015.
The change implies that financial records in electronic format can be
stored anywhere – also outside Denmark. One essential requirement is
that the business must be able to provide an online access to the financial
records held abroad, enabling Danish authorities to access the material at
any time from a server in Denmark.
The change to the act has been positively received from businesses and
the removal of localisation restrictions now gives Danish businesses free-
dom to choose the most efficient and competitive data service provider
with a positive impact on innovation and growth. The Danish government
strongly supports comparable freedoms to data flows in all of EU to fully
reap the potential of the data economy, whilst respecting concerns for
national security. We look forward to your announced data flow proposal
within the next months.
Yours sincerely,
MINISTRY OF
BUSINESS AND GROWTH
Slotsholmsgade 10-12
1015 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Tlf.
+45 33 92 33 50
Fax.
+45 33 12 37 78
CVR-nr. 10092485
EAN nr. 5798000026001
www.evm.dk
Troels Lund Poulsen
This letter has also been sent to Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger.