At its 42^nd plenary session held on 19 November 2020, the EDPB adopted a statement on the future E-Privacy Regulation and the future role of supervisory authorities and the EDPB in this context. The EDPB expressed concern over the direction some of the discussions in the Council were taking in relation to the enforcement of the future Regulation, which the EDPB says could lead to fragmented supervision, procedural complexity and a lack of consistency and legal certainty for individuals and companies.

The EDPB observed that much of the new E-Privacy Regulation concerns the processing of personal data and many provisions are closely intertwined with the GDPR. To achieve consistency in the interpretation and enforcement of both Regulations in the most efficient way, the same representative authority should be in charge of enforcement for both of them, it said.

The EDPB also stressed the need to adopt the new E-Privacy Regulation as soon as possible. The EDPB also reiterated that the new Regulation should under no circumstance lower the level of protection offered by the current E-Privacy Directive (2002/58/EC) and should complement the GDPR by providing additional strong guarantees for confidentiality and protection of all types of electronic communications. To read the EDPB’s press release in full, click here. To access the full statement, click here.