47. Can a public body in one country request data from a data holder in a different country? Are the rights of the data holder fully protected in such a case?

Yes. The Data Act includes the right for a public sector body to request data from data holders (companies) located in a Member State that is not the Member State of the requesting public sector body. This right may be important in the case of cross-border emergencies (e.g. natural disasters). As always, the request needs to fulfil all the requirements under Article 17 of the Data Act. This means that it must be formulated in clear, concise, and plain language that the data holder can understand. Article 22 of the Data Act contains a specific procedure for cross-border requests to ensure the data holder’s protection. Such requests are always notified to the competent authority of the data holder’s Member State for ex ante examination.