On May 3, 2021, the European Commission (the “Commission”) opened a further public consultation (“Consultation”) on the European Health Data Space (“EHDS”).

This follows a consultation earlier in the year, on the Commission’s “Inception Impact Assessment” in relation to the EHDS.  (For further information on the earlier consultation and an overview of the EHDS, please see our blog post available here).

The Consultation aims to get feedback from a wide range of stakeholders (i.e., members of the public, healthcare professionals, public health authorities, data protection authorities, and industry organisations) on their experiences with the collection, access, use and re-use of health data.  The consultation consists of a questionnaire structured in three sections focusing on:

  1. the use of health data for healthcare provision, research and innovation, policy making, and regulatory decision-making;
  2. the development and use of digital health services and products; and
  3. the development and use of artificial intelligence systems in healthcare.

Feedback is to be used to help in designing the legal framework for the EHDS.

The consultation is open until July 26, 2021, with the Commission’s adoption of the EHDS planned for the fourth quarter of 2021.

The team at Covington will continue to monitor any developments in this area.

Photo of Anna Oberschelp de Meneses Anna Oberschelp de Meneses

Anna Sophia Oberschelp de Meneses is an associate in the Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.  Anna is a qualified Portuguese lawyer, but is both a native Portuguese and German speaker.  Anna advises companies on European data protection law and helps clients coordinate…

Anna Sophia Oberschelp de Meneses is an associate in the Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.  Anna is a qualified Portuguese lawyer, but is both a native Portuguese and German speaker.  Anna advises companies on European data protection law and helps clients coordinate international data protection law projects.  She has obtained a certificate for “corporate data protection officer” by the German Association for Data Protection and Data Security (“Gesellschaft für Datenschutz und Datensicherheit e.V.”). She is also Certified Information Privacy Professional Europe (CIPPE/EU) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).  Anna also advises companies in the field of EU consumer law and has been closely tracking the developments in this area.  Her extensive language skills allow her to monitor developments and help clients tackle EU Data Privacy, Cybersecurity and Consumer Law issues in various EU and ROW jurisdictions.