Art. 35 Interoperability of data processing services | Data act regulation | Data act

This article sets out the technical framework for achieving interoperability between data processing services, defining what open interoperability specifications and harmonised standards must accomplish and how they are to be developed and published.

It connects directly to Article 30, which imposes obligations on providers of data processing services to ensure compatibility with these specifications and standards.

The article covers both the goals these standards must meet — such as interoperability, portability, and security — and the process by which the Commission can commission, adopt, and publish them, including a role for Member States to challenge specifications they consider inadequate.

Important points:

The Commission is empowered to request European standardisation organisations to draft harmonised standards and, where needed, to adopt common specifications via implementing acts, covering interoperability and portability of data processing services.
Open interoperability specifications and harmonised standards must not have an adverse impact on the security and integrity of data processing services and data, and must allow for technical advances and innovation.
The Commission is required to publish references to harmonised standards and common specifications in a central Union standards repository, which is the trigger for compliance obligations on providers of data processing services under Article 30(3).

1. Open interoperability specifications and harmonised standards for the interoperability of data processing services shall:
  1. achieve, where technically feasible, interoperability between different data processing services that cover the same service type;
  2. enhance portability of digital assets between different data processing services that cover the same service type;
  3. facilitate, where technically feasible, functional equivalence between different data processing services referred to in Article 30(1) that cover the same service type;
  4. not have an adverse impact on the security and integrity of data processing services and data;
  5. be designed in such a way so as to allow for technical advances and the inclusion of new functions and innovation in data processing services.
1. Open interoperability specifications and harmonised standards for the interoperability of data processing services shall adequately address:
  1. the cloud interoperability aspects of transport interoperability, syntactic interoperability, semantic data interoperability, behavioural interoperability and policy interoperability;
  2. the cloud data portability aspects of data syntactic portability, data semantic portability and data policy portability;
  3. the cloud application aspects of application syntactic portability, application instruction portability, application metadata portability, application behaviour portability and application policy portability.
1. Open interoperability specifications shall comply with Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.
1. After taking into account relevant international and European standards and self-regulatory initiatives, the Commission may, in accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, request one or more European standardisation organisations to draft harmonised standards that satisfy the essential requirements laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.
1. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, adopt common specifications based on open interoperability specifications covering all of the essential requirements laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2.
1. When preparing the draft implementing act referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, the Commission shall take into account the views of the relevant competent authorities referred to in Article 37(5), point (h) and other relevant bodies or expert groups and shall duly consult all relevant stakeholders.
1. When a Member State considers that a common specification does not entirely satisfy the essential requirements laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2, it shall inform the Commission thereof by submitting a detailed explanation. The Commission shall assess that detailed explanation and may, if appropriate, amend the implementing act establishing the common specification in question.
1. For the purpose of Article 30(3), the Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, publish the references of harmonised standards and common specifications for the interoperability of data processing services in a central Union standards repository for the interoperability of data processing services.
1. The implementing acts referred to in this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 46(2).