June 7, 2016

With new data protection rules now recognised as law, the EU must turn its attention to ensuring that they are successfully implemented, the EDPS said to the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, as he presented his 2015 Annual Report.

Giovanni Buttarelli, EDPS, said: “The GDPR is one of the EU’s greatest achievements in recent years and a document of which it should be proud.  However, our job is not yet complete.  We must ensure that the GDPR is fully and effectively implemented …”.

The EDPS focused considerable efforts in 2015 on ensuring the successful adoption of new and effective data protection rules, providing legislators with detailed recommendations in the form of an app.  Mr Buttarelli is now turning his attention to the successful implementation of the new rules.

The EDPS’s work on this has already started.  For example, there are plans to produce a toolkit on necessity, which is a key concept in the new reforms.  The toolkit aims to better equip EU legislators responsible for preparing and scrutinising measures involving the processing of personal data and which might interfere with the rights to privacy, data protection and other rights and freedoms laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.

The EDPS says that he will also continue his work with fellow EU data protection authorities in the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party to prepare for the European Data Protection Board.  The Board, which will replace the Working Party, is a vital element of the reforms and must be fully functional from day one, Mr Buttarelli says.

The EDPS launched several new initiatives in 2015, such as those on data ethics and big data.  He also worked closely with the Working Party to analyse the consequences of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling on Safe Harbour and advise the Commission on alternative solutions.  These and other initiatives will continue into 2016 and beyond to ensure that the EU remains at the forefront of data protection and privacy policy.  To read the EDPS’s press release and for a link to the Annual Report, click here.