Agreement on EU DP draft Regulation nearly certain during 2015

Different stakeholders, speaking at the Privacy Laws & Business 27th Annual International Conference yesterday, indicated that the draft data protection Regulation is now on an irreversible road. Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor, said that as the different parties have made their positions public, and consensus is increasing in the Council, the proposal will be adopted. He also said the new European Parliament is not likely to change its negotiating position on any of the main points.

Lilian Mitrou, who chaired the DAPIX Council of Ministers' Committee during the Greek Presidency, said that much progress has been made on the One-Stop-Shop aspects of the proposal and partial agreement has been found on international transfers and territorial applicability. The Italian Presidency which started yesterday, and will continue until the end of the year, will carry on its work from this position, she said.

UK Justice Minister Simon Hughes indicated that the UK is keen to finish the process by the next UK general election in May 2015. The Information Commissioner Christopher Graham stressed that the new law needs to be workable; if many new obligations are imposed on the Regulator, sufficient funds need to be made available.

While there is no definite decision on which instrument will be used, Directive or Regulation, the UK objections to a Regulation are likely to have no effect when it comes to qualified majority voting at the Council, Hustinx said.

Today the conference will discuss privacy seals, privacy challenges with apps, social media, wearable technology etc.