Brussels, 27/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to the European Commission, European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx called on it to adopt a new legal instrument to establish a more comprehensive data protection framework for the Internal Market Information System (IMI). “The adoption of a legal instrument, such as a … regulation, is necessary to set a more comprehensive framework for the operation of IMI and provide for legal certainty and a higher level of data protection,” he said in a press release. He said the Commission should use the principles of “Privacy by design” in implementing further data protection safeguards. The EDPS may also bring together competent national authorities in order to improve supervision of the IMI in terms of data protection.
Linking central administrations, local authorities and professional organisations throughout the European Union, the IMI is an online application which puts users into a network and makes decision-making deriving from the implementation of European legislation easier. Currently covering only Directives 2006/123 on services in the single market and 2005/36 on recognition of professional qualifications (see EUROPE 9857), it involves the registration and sharing of relevant personal data. (M.B./transl.rt)