New rules for data and smart contracts law

In recent years, smart contracts have become increasingly popular as tools for automating protocols and transactions, are widely used by blockchain-based platforms and have led to the emergence of decentralized business models and the development of the DeFi space.
Although the EU has not yet had harmonized regulation of smart contracts, the European Commission has addressed the topic of smart contracts for data exchange in its legislative proposals for the Data Act.

The Data Act

The Data Act is a European regulation that is part of a more general "data strategy" that accompanies the digitization process in the EU.
The purpose of the law is to regulate who can access and use data created in all sectors of the EU economy. The data law aims to provide a uniform framework for who has the right to use available data collected, acquired or otherwise created by the relevant product or service, under what conditions and on what basis.
Thus, it is not a question of rules relating to the cryptocurrency sector, but specifically the regulation of data generated by users through the use of devices or services made available to them, such as the Internet of Things.

Smart contracts regulations

The text of the regulations voted on by the European Parliament includes a topic specifically aimed at smart contracts used to exchange data.
There are a number of basic requirements that smart contracts must meet in order to comply with the Regulation. It is the responsibility of the party providing the smart contract as part of the data exchange contract to ensure that these requirements are met.
These requirements include data storage systems, strict access control mechanisms, and ensuring that smart contracts are designed to avoid functional errors and resist manipulation by third parties.
Of particular importance are requirements for termination and denial mechanisms. Essentially, smart contracts must include the ability to reset their internal functions or otherwise pass instructions to stop or interrupt their operation to prevent (accidental) execution of the operation.
Although there are specific, sometimes quite stringent, requirements, it is not clear what the consequences would be of using a smart contract that does not comply with them. Presumably, they will be determined in accordance with the current legislation of individual EU member states.