Data Protection Officer

The report shows that 2009 was of major importance for the fundamental right to data protection.

This is due to a number of key developments: the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty, ensuring a strong legal basis for comprehensive data protection in all areas of EU policy; the start of a public consultation on the future of the EU legal framework for data protection; and the adoption of a new five-year policy programme for the area of freedom, security and justice ("Stockholm Programme") with the emphasis on the importance of data protection in this area.

The EDPS has been highly involved in these fields and is determined to pursue this course in the near future. 

You can obtain a paper version of this Annual Report on EU Bookshop. 

Guidelines concerning implementing rules concerning the tasks, duties and powers of the Data Protection Officer (Article 24.8)

This Report, which covers 2008 as the fourth full year of activity of the EDPS, concludes the first EDPS mandate and provides an opportunity to take stock of developments since the start.

The report shows that significant progress was achieved both in the EDPS supervisory and advisory tasks. Most Community institutions and bodies are making good progress in ensuring compliance with data protection rules, but there are still great challenges ahead. The EDPS supervision work is therefore putting more emphasis on measuring the level of compliance in practice, in particular through more systematic verifications on the spot, and on monitoring the implementation of recommendations in prior checking.

The EDPS also further improved his performance as an advisor to the European institutions and submitted opinions on an increasing number of legislative proposals. The majority of the EDPS opinions continued to concern issues related to the area of freedom, security and justice. Other subjects, such as e-privacy, public access to documents, the establishment of information systems and access to those systems, cross-border healthcare and new technologies were also quite prominent.

You can obtain a paper version of this Annual Report on EU Bookshop.