14/06/2011

Protecting personal data in the EU
A comprehensive approach...


Under the lead of German MEP Axel Voss, the LIBE (Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) Committee this week adopts proposals on 'A comprehensive approach to personal data protection in the EU'. The report is a reaction to the Communication the Commission published on the future of European Data Protection Law in November 2010. The key topic is the amendment of the existing Data Protection Directive 95/46/EG. Commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Viviane Reding, announced she would publish a new legislative proposal this autumn.


Why a new legislative proposal?

Looking back, in 1995 the EU set a milestone in establishing data protection principles across all EU Member States by implementing the Directive 95/46/EG on the protection of personal data.

Since 1995 however, things have changed dramatically and at enormous speed - we are now living in the so called 'digital age', where personal data is flowing and is processed all the time. Needless to say, the 1995 Directive urgently needs to be adapted to the new technical environment and the larger amount of personal data that is processed by numerous actors in today's society and economy.

But where do we stand?

With all this in mind, it was a matter of course that the right to Data Protection was enshrined in the fundamental laws of the EU since the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, namely by Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 16 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - the Treaty that establishes the European Community.

The task now is to adequately transpose this right into concrete legislation, mainly by revising the existing Directive 95/46/EC. As the right is now enshrined in the Community framework, it now also covers the field of data protection in police and judicial cooperation, which before was subject to separate legislation and unanimous decision by the Member States.

What does Axel Voss propose?

In his report, Voss identifies major challenges the new legal instrument has to tackle. "We have to establish one comprehensive data protection law that harmonises the diverse rules we see across the EU today. Consumers need legal certainty about their rights when their data are processed online or offline. And businesses need legal certainty on which data protection laws they have to abide by," Voss underlines. "We also have to ensure enforcement of the laws, within and outside Europe. If an international company processes European citizens' data, then they have to apply European law. Unfortunately, this is not always the case today," Voss added.

The medium of the future

The EPP Group considers the Internet as the medium of the future, given its speed, flexibility, reach, cost-effectiveness and inherent international character. It must be a political goal of high priority to enable European citizens to make ideal use of the ample possibilities the internet offers in all areas of life, without fear of misuse of their personal data.