Opinion of 13 December 2012 the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for a Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations

Opinion on the Amendment to the Commission proposal COM(2011) 628 final/2 for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy

Opinion on the legal proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013, OJ C 35/01, 09.02.2012, p.1

See also the text of the 'Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy'

See also the text of the 'Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation)'

See also the text of the 'Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)'

See also the text of the 'Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy'

Opinion on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the annual budget of the Union, OJ C 215/05, 21.07.2011, p.13

Transparency and data protection are both essential elements of democratic life in the EU, and both contribute to good governance. The interaction between these rights - i.e. the way in which to deal with public access to documents containing personal data - may however be perceived as difficult. Providing guidelines for the EU administration, the paper describes the two rights and their legal backgrounds. It also gives a list of examples and a checklist.

When dealing with these cases, it is imperative that the responsible officials make a concrete and individual examination of the specific document. Firstly, disclosure can only be refused if the privacy of an individual is at stake. Secondly, the negative effect of disclosure of someone's personal data must be substantial and thirdly it has to be examined if data protection legislation allows disclosure.

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. 

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.