Dr Martin Schirmbacher

On 26 March 2026, the Bundestag passed the Act Implementing the Data Regulation (DADG), which was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 29 May. Germany has thus – albeit with a significant delay – established the national legal framework required of Member States under the EU Data Act. Below, we provide an overview of the background, content and penalty provisions of the new Act.

In episode 43 of the Data Navigator podcast, Dr Martin Schirmbacher, partner and specialist solicitor in IT law at HÄRTING Rechtsanwälte, and Dr Hubertus von Roenne, partner at the strategy consultancy Upgrade, speak with Dr Matthias Nachtmann about the use of data in agriculture. Matthias Nachtmann is the founder and chairman of Friends of Digital Farming, an association promoting the digitalisation of agriculture and food. In the discussion, he explains how data usage currently works in agriculture and what conditions are needed for a functioning data economy in the agri-food sector. Among other things, the discussion addresses why farmers today are often faced with differing data requests from various customers, the role of common rules for data exchange, and why data only scales when it delivers concrete productivity benefits to farms. Other topics covered in the episode include process data and location data in the field, the example of nitrogen with varying requirements across different federal states, and the question of who should define the ‘traffic rules’ for a functioning data economy. Federalism and its impact on innovation in the agricultural sector are also discussed. Further information on digital farming Consultancy and strategy on digital farming by Dr Matthias Nachtmann Friends of Digital Farming Fraunhofer IESE: Digital Farming / Smart Farming Chair of Digital Farming at RPTU GeoBox Rhineland-Palatinate Further podcast episodes on data in the agricultural sector Episode 38: The Data Act from a machinery manufacturer’s perspective with Georg Larscheid from Claas Episode 34: The Data Act from a farmer’s perspective with farmer Dag Frerichs Episode 24: What does the Data Act mean for the agricultural sector? with Prof. Dr Reinhard Grandke All previous episodes of the Data Navigator podcast on the Data Act Data Navigator Newsletter Using data: New every two weeks. Subscribe to the Data Navigator Newsletter now. General information on the Data Act The Data Act as adopted by the Council of the European Union on 27 November 2023 FAQ on the Data Act: “You ask, we answer: How the Data Act affects your business!”

The “Green Deal” – personally announced by Ms von der Leyen in 2019 – promised great things: climate neutrality by 2050, emissions trading and billions in financial support. Now, the “Empowering Consumers” Directive (EmpCo, 2024/825) marks another milestone in the fight against climate change. At least, that is how the Commission sees it. In addition to banning misleading green claims, the directive sets out comprehensive new information requirements for traders. These are to be transposed into national law by March 2026 and will apply from the end of September 2026. Specifically, for the purpose of informing consumers, this concerns information on statutory warranty rights and voluntary manufacturer guarantees.

In episode 42 of the Data Navigator podcast, we speak to Dominik Ebeling (Head of Data Governance, Rolls-Royce Power Systems) about whether and how trade secrets might be embedded in IoT sensor data – and what this means in terms of the requirements under the Data Act. Specifically, we cover: - striking the right balance between data access and innovation protection, - the fridge example: how a product’s control logic can be deduced from a temperature-time series, - reverse engineering via data versus via hardware: why the effort involved is a crucial protective factor, - a practical categorisation of sensor data into four levels – from environmental variables to the protected core of innovation. - figures: at least two-thirds of sensor data is completely uncritical for disclosure – says the engine manufacturer and - the Omnibus, the Federal Network Agency and the call not to abandon the compromise between data sharing and the protection of trade secrets.

When manufacturers are required to share data, a key question arises: on what terms? The Data Act provides the answer in five letters: FRAND – Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory. What does this mean in practice?

The topic of episode 41 of the Data Navigator podcast is the perspective of a start-up whose business model is directly based on the Data Act. Our guest is Philip Schütz, founder of Data Revolution and also a data protection expert at Mercedes-Benz. Philip brings an unusual combination of skills to the table: as a political scientist, he provided academic support for the legislative process of the GDPR at Fraunhofer and subsequently worked in data protection within companies. The idea to found Data Revolution arose from his academic engagement with the Data Act as part of a commentary project on EU digital legislation. We learn exactly what Data Revolution does: the tech start-up acts as an intermediary between data owners and data users, processing the raw data required to be disclosed under the Data Act and making it usable for data users – from analysis and visualisation to integration into existing business processes. In addition, the start-up offers SMEs support with Data Act compliance from the data owner’s perspective. A key focus of the episode is on practical experiences from the agritech and vehicle data sectors. Philip reports first-hand: at one tractor manufacturer, 750 data types could be accessed as CSV downloads – but real-time access via an API was refused on the grounds of a lack of infrastructure. Another major manufacturer does provide an API, but only supplies five data types. In the vehicle data sector, meanwhile, real-time access costs between 20 and 30 euros per vehicle per month – a sum that can nip innovative business models in the bud. We discuss in detail why the Data Act has not yet taken hold in the market: many companies perceive it more as a regulatory brake than as an enabler. Even in the start-up scene, hardly anyone is familiar with the Data Act. Philip also describes how his team deals with issues such as confidentiality and the protection of trade secrets – particularly in a B2B context, customers expect their data to remain under their control. In conclusion, Philip sets out clear demands: the Federal Network Agency, as the future supervisory authority, must consistently pursue cases of non-compliance.

From 19 June 2026, companies must provide an electronic cancellation function for B2C contracts concluded online. The new Section 356a of the German Civil Code (BGB) contains detailed requirements for the design of this process and thus creates a considerable need for implementation in online retail.

The Data Act harbours many ambiguities. We have collected and answered the most frequently asked questions about the Data Act from presentations and client work. Is your question not included? Then please get in touch with us!