An outcome of last year’s workshop on the same topic, the special issue consists of an editorial (Petročnik) and two peer-reviewed papers; the first paper (Shabani and Yilmaz) addresses the interplay of EU’s regulatory frameworks related to data processing, namely the GDPR, the DGA, and the recently proposed EHDS Regulation, with a focus on the legal bases for secondary use of health data, specifically for data-driven research purposes. In the second paper (Slokenberga), the emerging EU regime for the use of health data for research is examined, with a view to explore whether it is in line with the established ethico-legal standards governing scientific research. The special issue’s aspiration is to further the debate on the EHDS in light of the ongoing legislative process.