Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU ministers to fall short on data protection bill

  • EU ministers are not expected to make much progress on the data protection reforms (Photo: luc legay)

After months of haggling and 26 meetings since January, EU ministers are unlikely to reach an agreement this week on a key component of the EU’s draft data protection bill.

National negotiators are still unclear on how to streamline data protection oversight via the bill’s so-called ‘one-stop-shop mechanism’.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The issue had already derailed negotiations at a meeting in the Council, representing member states, last December.

“The discussion hasn’t moved on to be honest since the last Council,” said an EU official on Tuesday (3 June).

Instead, justice ministers are expected to reach a consensus on other less contentious issues when they meet Friday morning in Luxembourg to discuss the bill, which aims to turn the EU’s 1995 data protection directive into a more powerful regulation.

An EU presidency source said it “is out of the question” of finalising the one-stop-shop in Luxembourg.

The proposal is important because it harmonizes decision-making across the bloc.

It entitles EU citizens to complain about data mishandling by internet firms to their national data protection authorities instead of seeking more expensive redress in the country where the company is based.

It also allows companies to tackle EU-wide data cases through the data chief in the EU country in which they have their HQ, instead of dealing with 28 different EU authorities.

Member states in December had already clashed over the issue after the Council’s legal services said it would be overly complex and too expensive to implement.

At the time, EU commissioner for justice Viviane Reding described the blockade as a step backwards for data protection rights.

The Commission, for its part, says the one-stop-shop is needed because it will cut red tape and lead to savings for businesses.

Partial agreements are still expected.

Ministers are likely to move ahead on rules governing the transfer of personal data outside the EU.

They are also likely to agree that the reformed data protection rules should apply to all companies, even if located outside the EU.

An EU source said the expected agreements on Friday are likely to “be heavily caveated”, leaving open the possibility of changes in the future.

But any discussion on the European Court of Justice ruling against the US internet giant Google are off the table.

The court last month ruled in favour of a Spanish national for the company to delete personal data relating to him from its search results.

Google has since launched a dedicated website where EU nationals can make requests to have certain personal data de-listed.

The company on Tuesday said it had received some 41,000 requests to take down personal data in the first four days of the website’s launch, reports the Wall Street Journal.

EU ministers back key pillar in data reform bill

Member states on Thursday (4 December) reached a broad consensus on a key area of the EU’s reformed data protection bill but some problems remain for the next EU presidency to resolve.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us