The Single Data Market: a mixed picture for Europe

It is precisely in the context of European data spaces that the gap between ambition and reality is most evident. The Data Spaces Support Centre, the body responsible for coordinating the development of shared data spaces, reports that progress varies across sectors.

The European Health Data Space is the most advanced from a regulatory perspective: the dedicated regulation was adopted in 2025 and provides for cross-border access to health data for clinical and research purposes. However, technical implementation is proceeding slowly. National data-sharing infrastructures are fragmented, interoperability standards have not yet been fully defined, and resistance from some Member States to the cross-border processing of health data is slowing down deployment.

The mobility sector can draw on well-established national initiatives, particularly in Germany, but struggles to achieve a truly European scale. Mobility data often remains locked away in national or proprietary silos, and integration with public transport systems is incomplete.

The Energy Data Space tackles the complexity of a sector governed by widely differing national regulations, with established operators reluctant to share information they regard as strategic. The agricultural sector suffers from the fragmentation of the production base and farmers’ mistrust of sharing data with technology platforms.

The pattern is a recurring one: the rules are in place, but the sharing infrastructure is still in its infancy, the economic incentives for participation are weak, and trust between the parties — a necessary condition for sharing — has yet to be established.

The OECD’s analysis of data governance and cross-border data flows identifies a number of structural issues. Fundamentally, the regulatory framework works: Europe has established a coherent regulatory framework that balances openness and protection, defining who can access which data and under what conditions. The principle of data portability and the right of access to IoT data are significant innovations on the global stage.

The translation of these standards into operational infrastructure is less effective. Data Spaces require investment in technical platforms, common standards and shared governance mechanisms. European funding is available through the Digital Europe and Horizon Europe programmes, but Member States’ spending capacity varies and pilot projects are struggling to scale up.

On the contrary, it shows that the business model is not yet working. It is unclear who should pay for the sharing infrastructure or who can capture the economic value of the shared data. The Data Governance Act promotes neutral intermediaries, but the market for data intermediaries is still in its infancy and the economic model is not yet established.

The relationship with major platform operators remains problematic. The Data Act imposes obligations regarding access and portability, but the imbalances in bargaining power between hyperscalers and European SMEs cannot be resolved by regulation alone. Large platforms have the technical and legal resources to slow down implementation and maintain control over data flows.

The Gaia-X project, launched in 2019 as a federated European cloud infrastructure, was intended to be the technological backbone of Data Spaces. Seven years on from its inception, the outcome is controversial.

Gaia-X has produced technical specifications, certification frameworks and pilot use cases. However, it has not produced an operational infrastructure capable of competing with US cloud providers. The most common criticisms are: overly complex governance, the involvement of stakeholders with divergent interests, and development timescales that are incompatible with market needs.

The consortium has recently refocused its mission on defining standards and rules for interoperability, abandoning its ambition to build an alternative physical infrastructure. This is a realistic scaling back of its ambitions, but it leaves open the question of who will actually provide the cloud services on which Data Spaces will have to rely.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has embarked on a consolidation phase. The aim for 2026–2027 is to bring at least four strategic Data Spaces – health, mobility, energy and public administration – to an operational stage, with functioning technical infrastructure and initial use cases at European level.

Success will depend on the Member States’ ability to implement the rules and build national connectivity infrastructure, on businesses’ willingness to participate by sharing data in exchange for tangible benefits, and on the credibility of the governance model, which must ensure neutrality, security and compliance with European data protection rules.

Europe has opted for an alternative model to that of American and Chinese platforms: rather than concentrating data in the hands of a few, it involves sharing governed by public rules. This vision is consistent with European values. It remains to be seen whether it can also work from an economic and technological perspective.