EDPS Inventory 2014: Data Protection at the heart of EU policy
The European Data Protection Supervisor’s (EDPS) 2014 work programme in the area of legislative consultation identifies issues of strategic importance that are likely to be the cornerstones of his consultation work for 2014. The inventory, a strategic planning document also published today, highlights the key areas of focus for 2014.
Peter Hustinx, EDPS: "As the second mandate of the EDPS will come to an end in early 2014, it is appropriate to highlight that privacy and data protection have now become relevant in a wide range of EU policies. This underscores the need for early assessment and independent advice on how to include them in those policies. The recognition of privacy and data protection as fundamental rights means that their delivery in practice must remain a high priority on the EU political agenda.”
As the role of the EDPS in the legislative procedure continues to increase, he must ensure that high-quality contributions are made to it in a timely manner, within ever limited resources. This calls for a more strategic approach to legislative consultation.
The key areas of strategic importance that are likely to form the basis of the EDPS' consultation work for 2014 include:
- A new legal framework for data protection,
- Rebuilding trust in global data flow in the aftermath of PRISM
- Initiatives to bolster the economic growth and the Digital Agenda
- Further developing the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
- Reform of the financial sector
- Tax fraud and banking secrecy
The EDPS will focus in particular on initiatives such as the Commission Communication on rebuilding trust in EU-US data flows, the post-Stockholm Programme, initiatives against terrorism and extremism, and on open data, cloud computing and banking supervision. The EDPS will also issue opinions in other policy areas, such as competition and eHealth.
The ongoing work on one of the largest legislative dossiers in recent years - the two proposals for reforming the EU data protection framework - is the subject of very great interest at national, European and international level.
The review process has now reached a critical stage and negotiations between the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament should be starting shortly. In 2014, the EDPS will continue to interact with all relevant actors in the legislative procedure, as well as with other interested parties, to encourage a speedy adoption of the package.
The EDPS is committed to devoting substantial resources in 2014 to the analysis of these strategic areas and will also monitor a number of (non or less strategic) initiatives, which may nonetheless have data protection relevance.
Background information
One of the duties of the EDPS as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 is to advise the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council on proposals for new legislation and a wide range of other issues that have an impact on data protection.
Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural (living) person. Examples include names, dates of birth, photographs, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. Other details such as health data, data used for evaluation purposes and traffic data on the use of telephone, email or internet are also considered personal data.
EU institutions and bodies/EU administration: all institutions, bodies, offices or agencies operating for the European Union (e.g. European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the European Union, European Central Bank, specialised and decentralised EU agencies).
For more information on the EU data protection reform, we refer you to a dedicated section on the EDPS website.