The European Commission announced, on 3 May 2022, that it had launched, on the same day, the European Health Data Space ('EHDS'), one of the central building blocks of a strong European Health Union. In particular, the Commission noted that the EHDS will help the EU to achieve a harmonised healthcare system to be provided to people across Europe, noting that it will empower people to control and utilise their health data in their home country or in other Member States. In addition, the Commission stated that it fosters a genuine single market for digital health services and products and it offers a consistent, trustworthy, and efficient framework to use health data for research, innovation, policy-making, and regulatory activities, while ensuring full compliance with the EU's high data protection standards.

Furthermore, the Commission stated that the EHDS builds further on the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) ('GDPR'), on the proposed Data Governance Act, on the draft Data Act, and on the Directive on Security Network and Information Systems (Directive (EU) 2016/1148), as it complements these initiatives and provides more tailor-made rules for the health sector. Moreover, the Commission noted that the proposal will now be discussed by the Council and the European Parliament.

You can read the press release here.