Earlier this month, we reported the progress of trilogue discussions on the long-awaited General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On 15 December 2015, almost four years after the legislative proposal was originally tabled by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council finally reached agreement, bringing the GDPR one step closer to adoption.

The final trilogue negotiations, which were concluded 15 December 2015, saw a “strong compromise” reached between the European Council, Parliament and Commission. The GDPR will be formally adopted by the European Parliament and Council at the beginning of 2016, and organisations will then have two years to ensure that their data practices are compliant. Some headline provisions of the agreed text are:

  • Companies can be fined up to 4% of their annual turnover for data protection breaches
  • Companies based outside Europe will be subject to the regulation if they offer goods and services in Europe
  • Companies processing sensitive personal data must appoint a data protection officer
  • Companies will only have to deal with a single supervisory authority

Continue Reading Agreement reached on the GDPR

With the festive season now firmly upon us, there are indications that European Union institutions could soon be delivering an early Christmas present to businesses: the conclusion of trilogue negotiations on the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’).

The GDPR, according to the latest document to come out of Brussels, aims to “reinforce data protection rights of individuals, facilitate the free flow of personal data in the digital single market and reduce administrative burden.” The EU Commission, Parliament and Council are currently locked in closed-door negotiations to agree to the final text of the GDPR, and while some uncertainty remains over the exact provisions that will be included, the latest available text from the European Presidency indicates that the key changes will be that:
Continue Reading Countdown to the General Data Protection Regulation…