On 19 September 2017, the European Commission published a proposal for a new regulation prohibiting mandatory localisation requirements for non-personal data in the EU.1 The importance of this proposal to achieving a competitive data economy in Europe is reflected by the member states’ decision to prioritise it for legislation. On 19 December 2017, the European Council published a revised text of the proposal2 and decided on a mandate to begin negotiations with the European Parliament as soon as possible.