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On 22 June 2018, the European Commission published a factsheet that provides a visual summary of the actions taken to date to implement its Digital Single Market strategy. The Digital Single Market strategy refers to the European Commission’s mission to ensure access to online activities for individuals and businesses under conditions of fair competition, consumer and data protection, removing geo-blocking and copyright issues.

The factsheet sets out a timeline, which shows the status of each of the Digital Single Market strategy initiatives presented by the Commission since its announcement of the Digital Single Market strategy in 2015. The factsheet shows that 29 legislative initiatives have been presented, of which 17 have been agreed by the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the Commission.

There remain 12 Commission legislative initiatives that the European Parliament and the Council are yet to reach agreement on. Notably, the forthcoming ePrivacy Regulation initially envisaged as coming into force at the same time as the General Protection Regulation 2016/679 remains very much in the negotiation process. With the upcoming European elections in 2019 looming ever closer, there is a very real danger that unless rapid progress is made, the whole adoption process could find itself put on hold.Continue Reading Commission publishes factsheet on Digital Single Market strategy

With the EU Data Protection “reform train” rounding what is hopefully the final bend towards the summit of consensus, the UK ICO have published their latest analysis on the Council’s draft EU Data Protection Regulation. The analysis demonstrates the improvement needed in order to ensure that the new law provides effective protection to individuals while being “easy to understand and working well in practice.”  To recap: all three key EU institutions – Commission, Parliament and Council – have prepared alternative drafts and are ready to negotiate in trilogue, with the timetable aiming to complete the process by the end of 2015.

The journey began in January 2012 when the European Commission issued its draft of the General Data Protection Regulation (the “DP Reg”) – the first step in meaningful revision of this area in nearly 20 years. The European Parliament approved its version of the DP Reg in March 2014 and the Council agreed upon its own version on 15 June 2015.
Continue Reading EU Data Protection Reforms: ICO Critiques Council Draft Regulation Over Consent, Access Rights, EU v. Member State Balance of Power

We recently reported on the excitement surrounding the breakthrough vote by European Parliament on 21 October which put the delayed overhaul of European data protection rules back on track.

Following this landmark vote, Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor, issued a press release, stating, “It is essential that the European Union acts quickly so…

In January 2012, the European Commission proposed a legislative package to update the data protection principles enshrined in the 1995 Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC). The policy objectives of the European Commission set out an ambitious blueprint for a more cohesive EU data protection framework backed by stronger enforcement. Central to facilitating this were proposals…

In January 2012, the European Commission presented a legislative package to update the core data protection principles enshrined in the 1995 Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC). The policy objectives of the European Commission set out an ambition to build a more cohesive EU data protection framework supported by stronger enforcement. Central to facilitating this were…

This post was written by Cynthia O’Donoghue.

The landslide of proposed amendments and the recent debates over the PRISM scandal have pushed back the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) vote on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation). The vote, initially planned for May 2013, has already been postponed twice (see…

This post was written by Cynthia O’Donoghue.

The date of the first binding vote by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation), which was initially planned for April-May 2013, has been postponed a second time. During the meeting on May 6, LIBE decided…

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) has published an explanation of the process and timeline of the proposed EU data protection reform and its involvement in the on-going negotiations.

According to the ICO, the proposed EU data protection reforms could “be one of the biggest changes to data protection that the (UK) has ever seen.”…