UK Government seeks views on EU DP proposals

The United Kingdom Ministry of Justice launched, on 7 February, an evidence gathering exercise on the EU Commission’s proposals for a Data Protection Regulation and Directive. The government is keen to hear practical, day-to-day examples of the proposals’ possible effects on organisations, the cost of implementation, and how the proposals affect individual rights. The Call for Evidence seeks the views of data controllers and data processors, rights groups and information policy experts or anyone with a professional or personal interest in data protection.

The government will use this evidence in the forthcoming negotiations, where the UK is likely to lobby against several aspects of the proposals. Justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, said last year that it was important to adopt a ‘pragmatic approach to new data protection rules’ and warned that ‘imposing an inflexible, detailed data protection regime on the whole of the EU, regardless of the peculiarities of different cultures and legal systems, carried with it serious risks’.

The deadline for submitting responses is 6 March 2012, and the results are expected to be announced on 4 June 2012.