The research project is interdisciplinary in nature and covers EU internal market regulation, competition law and intellectual property law, taking into account comparative law elements. The project is implemented in an international research team, including Dr. hab. Maciej Bernatt and Dr. Laura Zoboli, Prof. Maria Lillà Montagnani, Dr. Joanna Mazur, Dr. Marcin Zieliński and Monika Woźniak-Cichuta, PhD Candidate. The project aims at analyzing (non-personal) B2B data sharing practices in the European Union, their potential anti-competitive and pro-competitive effects and their ability to affect innovation. This analysis – combined with an examination of both case-law and data sharing models already developed in several non-EU countries – allows to identify the regulatory challenges that B2B data sharing may pose, and the shortcomings of the current EU framework. Hence, the objective of the research project is, first, to systematically describe and examine data sharing practices among private business entities and, second, to develop an optimal approach to deal with B2B non-personal data sharing within the context of the EU internal market. Several research activities functional to these objectives are undertaken, using a comparative and interdisciplinary approach. The research questions are aimed at framing key issues in developing the optimal regulatory scenario for B2B non-personal data sharing within the EU internal market, with the help of an interdisciplinary and comparative approach. The main research question can be summarized as follows: what regulatory framework should be adopted to ensure that B2B data-sharing is conducive to competition and innovation? In addition, the research aims at answering the following questions: is a B2B data sharing obligation necessary to preserve pro-competitive effects and/or increase innovation that is brought about by data sharing itself? Should, on the other hand, voluntary solutions be preferred to top-down regulation? How should a proper model of B2B data sharing be balanced to favor competition and innovation? Should economic and legal incentives be introduced to encourage companies to share their data and – if yes – how should they be structured? Several research steps are instrumental in reaching this result, specifically: (1) categorization of data and actors involved in sharing operations; (2) framing of B2B non- personal data sharing in EU legal framework; (3) competitive assessment of B2B non-personal data sharing; (4) innovation-based assessment of B2B non-personal data sharing; (5) comparative study of B2B non- personal data sharing systems; (6) analysis of crucial issues functional to B2B non-personal data sharing, i.e. data ownership and data localization rules; (7) elaboration of a pro-innovative and pro-competitive regulatory framework for B2B non-personal data sharing. In the light of an overall verification of the project hypotheses, carried out with a comparative and multidisciplinary approach, the project formulates an optimal – regulatory – model to deal with B2B data sharing, framing a pro-competitive and pro-innovative framework for B2B non-personal data sharing within the EU internal market, which takes into account the functional categories of data ownership and data localization rules
