Supervision Conference: Agenda & Speakers

Time

Subjects

Speakers

08h45-09h15

Registration & Welcome Coffee

09h15-09h45

Welcome and opening remarks

- Mr. Wojciech Wiewiorowski, European Data Protection Supervisor, EDPS

- Mrs. Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Values and Transparency (TBC).

09h45-11h15

SESSION I : EUROJUST reform in the age of digitalisation and war

On 1 December 2021, the European Commission adopted several initiatives to digitalise EU justice systems, including the proposal on the digital information exchange in terrorism cases. A complementary proposal seeks to establish a dedicated IT platform to support the functioning of Joint Investigative Teams (the JITs collaboration platform). In parallel, another amendment to Eurojust regulation has been passed, establishing Eurojust as an European hub of storing and sharing evidence of war crimes in the Ukraine.

This session will reflect on the impact that these legislative changes will have on the type and volume of personal data processed by Eurojust. It will also consider the implications for relations with partners outside of the EU and international transfers of personal data by Eurojust.

09h45-09h55

Keynote I: Introduction to Eurojust panel

Mr. Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust

10h00-11h15

Panel I: Eurojust reform in the age of digitalisation and war

• Presentation of legislative changes to Eurojust regulation (EC)

• Implementation of the core international crimes module (EJ/DPO)

• Discussion on the data protection implications of the amendments

Moderator: Mr. Michal Fila, EDPS

Speakers: 

- Ms. Anna von Harnier, European Commission, DG JUST

- Mrs. Diana Alonso Blas, DPO of Eurojust

- Ms. Michaela Rittenauerová, chair of COPEN working party, CZ Presidency

11h15-11h30

Coffee break

11h30-13h00

SESSION II : EPPO first steps under supervision

The EPPO became operational on 1 June 2021. The EDPS was consulted beforehand on the data protection rules of the institution as well as on the case management system, in which the operational personal data is being processed.

EPPO is the first independent EU body mandated to investigate criminal offences against the financial interests of the EU. While strategic decisions are taken centrally, the investigative work is carried out by European Delegated Prosecutors in accordance with national rules of criminal procedure. This duality requires a coordinated approach for the supervision of EPPO’s personal data processing and enforcement of data subject rights.

The discussion will reflect on the experience of the first year of the functioning of EPPO from both operational and data protection perspectives as well as on the supervision challenges.

Mrs. Laura Kövesi, European Chief Prosecutor, EPPO

Panel II: EPPO first steps under supervision

• Data protection and challenges of the early days (EPPO DPO)
• Discussion on the functioning and supervision of EPPO

Moderator: Niksa Stolic, EDPS

Speakers: 

- Mr. Steven Ryder, DPO of EPPO, 

- Mrs. Vanessa Franssen, University of Liege

- Mr. Fabio Giuffrida, European Commission, DG JUST

14h30-16h00

SESSION III : EDPS - Effective enforcement in a patchy landscape

The legal landscape for the supervision of processing of operational personal data is complex, with some EU institutions applying dedicated data protection rules and remaining outside of the scope of EU data protection regulation (EUDPR). Recently, the European Commission published two reports on the implementation and application of the law enforcement directive (LED) and the EUDPR. What the supervisory authorities can learn from these reports? Can the fragmentation of the provisions on EDPS powers create confusion as to the role of the EDPS as supervisory authority? Are there limits to EDPS supervision when it comes to judicial authorities processing operational personal data?

Apart from the above questions, this session will also look at the needs and challenges related to cooperation with national data protection authorities (DPAs). The efficient supervision of EPPO and Eurojust may involve coordinated action, with the EDPS and the competent supervisory authorities each acting within their scope of competence.

Panel III:  Effective enforcement in a patchy landscape

• The work of the Coordinated Supervision Committee (EDPB)
• Application of Regulation 2018/1725 (EC)
• Discussion on effective enforcement - needs and challenges of coordinated supervision

Moderator: Mrs. Fanny Coudert, HoS for the Area of Freedom Security and Justice, EDPS

Speakers: 

- Mrs. Clara Guerra, Chair of EDPB Coordinated Supervision Committee, Portuguese DPA ​​​​​​

- Ms. Anna Mościbroda, European Commission, DG JUST

- Mr. Juraj Sajfert, doctoral candidate, VUB

Mrs. Diana Alonso Blas, DPO of Eurojust

Diana Alonso Blas is the Data Protection Officer and Head of the Data Protection Service at Eurojust. Previous to Eurojust she has worked at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and Information Technology (K.U. Leuven), the Belgian and Dutch Data Protection Authorities and the European Commission.

She studied Law at the universities of San Sebastián, Pau et les Pays de l'Adour and Leuven. She followed a LL.M. European Law postgraduate programme at the K.U.Leuven where she graduated magna cum laude.

She is author of numerous articles and reports and is often invited as speaker at data protection events.

Mrs. Fanny Coudert, HoS for the Area of Freedom Security and Justice, EDPS

Fanny is the Head of Sector of “Supervision of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice” at the EDPS. She has been part of the EDPS’ Supervision & Enforcement Unit since October 2017.

Previously, she worked as researcher specialised in privacy and surveillance at the Centre for IT&IP Law (CITIP) of KU Leuven (Belgium). 

Mr. Leonardo Cervera Navas, Director of the EDPS

Leonardo Cervera Navas is the Director of the Office of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the Data Protection Authority of the European Union. 

Law graduate of the University of Málaga and master’s degree in European Law from the University of Granada (Spain). He was a fellow at Duke University in North Carolina (US) as part of the EU Fellowship Programme of the European Commission. He also holds a post-graduate diploma in HR management by Kingston University (UK). He is Member of the Malaga Academy of Sciences (correspondent in Brussels).

Leonardo joined the European Commission in 1999 and since then he has been working in the Data Protection field in the EU institutions. In 2010, he joined the EDPS, as Head of the Human Resources, Budget and Administration Unit and he was appointed Director in 2018. As Head of the Secretariat, he is a member of the Management Board of the EDPS, responsible for advising on data protection law and policy, and he is in charge of the coordination and implementation of the strategies and policies of the institution.

Mr. Michal Fila, EDPS

Mrs. Vanessa Franssen, University of Liege

Vanessa Franssen is Professor at the University of Liège (Belgium) and Co-director of the Service de droit pénal, de procédure pénale et de droit pénal international. Furthermore, she is Affiliated Senior Researcher at the Institute of Criminal Law of the KU Leuven. She is also a guest lecturer at the University of Luxembourg and a member of the Brussels bar. 

Vanessa specializes in cybercrime, EU criminal law, economic and financial criminal law, national and comparative criminal law and criminal procedure. She has specific experience in comparative and interdisciplinary research (e.g. data protection law). She is particularly interested in the impact of new technologies (including artificial intelligence) on criminal law and criminal procedure.

She is the author of numerous publications and conference papers, and an associate editor of the European Law Blog. She has been consulted by European and national policy-makers on issues regarding the EPPO, e-evidence and data retention. From July 2020 till April 2021, she conducted an academic study, commissioned by the European Data Protection Supervisor, on the data protection legal framework applicable to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and its practical implementation.

Mrs. Clara Guerra, Chair of EDPB Coordinated Supervision Committee, Portuguese DPA

Mr. Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust

Mr Ladislav Hamran is a public prosecutor with over twenty years of experience, particularly in cases involving economic crime, corruption and asset recovery. After completing his legal studies at the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava, he started working as a prosecutor in 1997.

In 2003, he joined the General Prosecution Office in Bratislava, where he mainly investigated and prosecuted cases involving economic crime and corruption, until his secondment to Eurojust in September 2007. In 2013, he was elected Vice-President of Eurojust and was re-elected in this role in 2016 before becoming President in November 2017. 

Mrs. Laura Kövesi, European Chief Prosecutor, EPPO

Laura Codruța Kövesi is the former chief prosecutor of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA in Romanian), a position she held from 2013 to 9 July 2018. Prior to this, between 2006 and 2012 Laura Kövesi was the Prosecutor General of Romania, attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. She was the first woman and the youngest Prosecutor General in Romania's history.

In October 2019, Laura Kövesi was confirmed by the European Parliament and the Council as the first European Chief Prosecutor to head the recently created European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO), EU Regulation (EU) 2017/1939.

Ms. Michaela Rittenauerová, chair of COPEN working party, CZ Presidency

Michaela Rittenauerová is working as a Legal Officer in the Ministry of Justice, International Department for Criminal Matters, EU Law Unit, since 2007. She participated in negotiations of various legal acts in the Council Working Party for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (Eurojust Decision 2009/426/JHA, Eurojust Regulation (EU) 2018/1727, European Investigation Order, European Protection Order, etc.).

She has been alternate to the Chair during the Czech Presidency in the Council in 2009 regarding Framework Decision 2009/948/JHA on Conflicts of Jurisdictions, and chair of COPEN regarding proposal for Regulation on JITs Collaboration Platform and proposal for Regulation on Counter-Terrorism Register amending Eurojust Regulation (both acts in trialogue) during the Czech Presidency in 2022.

Translator of legal texts. Studied at Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Law, and University of Groningen, Faculty of Law.

Ms. Anna Mościbroda, European Commission, DG JUST

Anna Moscibroda works in a field of personal data protection for European Commission, Directorate General for Justice and Consumers. Upon taking her current duties in 2014, she focused mostly on the data protection aspects of migration policies (including asylum, Schengen acquis, large scale IT systems). She participated in several Schengen evaluations of the Member States.  As of 2020, Anna is a Team Leader, heeding a tem dealing with data protection in law enforcement, focusing on transposition and application of the LED.  

Lawyer by education, Anna was previously a case handler in DG Competition and a researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Centre for Law, Science, Technology & Society (LSTS) dealing with competition and intellectual property laws and on data protection. 

Mr. Juraj Sajfert, doctoral candidate, VUB

Juraj Sajfert is a doctoral candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the University of Luxembourg. He carries out a joint research project in Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg called 'Making transparent invisible surveillance: Digital investigatory measures in Benelux and their compatibility with EU data protection law'. He is also teaching a variety of data protection courses for academia and professionals, particularly in the area of law enforcement, and EU institutions and bodies.

Previously, he spent more than five years working for the Data Protection Unit of DG Justice and Consumers at the European Commission, moving from the position of a case-processing lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights. Juraj has been closely involved in the process of drafting and negotiating the new EU data protection legislation, particularly focusing on the Law Enforcement Directive, the Data Protection Regulation for Union institutions and bodies and data protection rules for the European Public Prosecutors’ Office and Eurojust.

Niksa Stolic, EDPS

Ms. Anna von Harnier, European Commission, DG JUST

Mr. Wojciech Wiewiorowski, European Data Protection Supervisor, EDPS

Wojciech Wiewiórowski has been the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) since December 6th 2019.

He is also an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk. He was, among others, an adviser in the field of e-government and information society for the Minister of Interior and Administration, and the Director of the Informatisation Department at the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Poland. He also represented Poland in the committee on Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations (the ISA Committee) assisting the European Commission.

Wojciech Wiewiórowski was also the Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data (Polish Data Protection Commissioner) between 2010-2014 and the Vice Chair of the Working Party Article 29 in 2014. In December 2014, he was appointed Assistant European Data Protection Supervisor. After the death of the Supervisor - Giovanni Buttarelli in August 2019 - he replaced Mr. Buttarelli as acting EDPS.

His areas of scientific activity include first of all Polish and European IT law, processing and security of information, legal information retrieval systems, informatisation of public administration, and application of new IT tools (semantic web, legal ontologies, cloud, blockchain) in legal information processing.

Mr. Thomas Zerdick, HoU Supervision & Enforcement, EDPS

Head of the Unit "Supervision and Enforcement" in the office of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) since 1/2022. Previously, Thomas was EDPS Head of Unit “Technology and Privacy" dealing with new technologies and their impact on personal data protection and privacy, as well as Member of Cabinet for the European Commission's First Vice-President Timmermans with responsibilities in particular for issues relating to the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights, including personal data protection. At the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Thomas was Acting Head of the Product safety unit and Deputy Head of Unit of the Data Protection unit.

Thomas was a key member of the team that prepared and negotiated the European Commission's data protection reform proposals, i.e. the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Police Data Protection Directive between 2009 and 2016. He also held positions at the DG for Internal Market and the DG for Enlargement, including as an EU legal expert to the United Nations Good Offices Mission in Cyprus. 

Thomas studied Law at the University of Passau (Germany) and at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium). He was an German Rechtsanwalt (attorney) specialising in European Union law, IT law and personal data protection law, and Director of the German Bar Association’s Brussels office. 

He publishes commentaries, books and articles on European Union law, e.g. in Ehrmann/Selmayr, Kommentar zur DS-GVO, Beck-Verlag; Kuner/Bygrave/Docksey, The EU General Data Protection Regulation - A Commentary, Oxford University Press, and is former editor of the EDPS „TechDispatch“.