During an Article 29 Working Party (WP29) press conference on 7 February 2018, the outgoing chair and French privacy chief, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, expressed concerns that EU data protection authorities (DPAs) may not be able to enforce the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) effectively and in a unified manner in accordance with the consistency mechanism, by 25 May 2018.

On 25 May 2018, the WP29 will be replaced by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which will invoke the consistency mechanism to streamline the enforcement of data protection laws throughout the region. According to Falque-Pierrotin, 26 of the 28 EU member states (with Germany and Austria being the exceptions) are yet to align their national laws with the GDPR. This is concerning because if one member state’s supervisory authority is unable to take part in the consistency mechanism, the whole system of regulation and enforcement under the GDPR could be undermined.
Continue Reading Will EU data protection authorities ‘consistency mechanism’ be ready in time for the GDPR?