The May 2022 proposal from the European commission for a 'European health data space' envisages advantages for health from exploiting the growing mass of health data in Europe. However, key stakeholders have identified aspects that demand clarification to ensure success. Data will need to be freed from traditional silos to flow more easily and to cross artificial borders. Wide engagement will be necessary among healthcare professionals, researchers, and the patients and citizens that stand to gain the most but whose trust must be won if they are to allow use or transfer of their data. This paper aims to alert the wider scientific community to the impact the ongoing discussions among lawmakers will have. Based on the literature and the consensus findings of an expert multistakeholder panel organised by the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) in June 2022, it highlights the key issues at the intersection of science and policy, and the potential implications for health research for years, perhaps decades, to come.

Academic Urology Unit Health Sciences Building University of Aberdeen Aberdeen AB25 2ZD UK

Department of Molecular and Cellular Engineering Jacob Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering Faculty of Engineering and Technology Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences Prayagraj 211007 India

European Alliance for Personalised Medicine 1040 Brussels Belgium

European Brain Council 1000 Brussels Belgium

European Heart Network 1000 Brussels Belgium

EURORDIS Rare Diseases Europe 75014 Paris France

FHiTT Fundació HiTT 08015 Barcelona Spain

Institute for Public Health Genomics Department of Genetics and Cell Biology GROW School of Oncology and Developmental Biology Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences Maastricht University 6229 ER Maastricht The Netherlands

Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Palacký University 77900 Olomouc Czech Republic

Intel Corporation 2550 Kontich Belgium

Janssen Pharmaceutica NV 2340 Beerse Belgium

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 68 Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré 75008 Paris France

MedTech Europe 1000 Brussels Belgium

Section of Hygiene and Public Health Department of Life Sciences and Public Health Catholic University of the Sacred Heart 00168 Rome Italy

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