Brussels, 05/07/2012 (Agence Europe) -European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström will probably not present a draft revision of the directive on data protection this year. This is despite the fact that in spring 2011, during an evaluation of this instrument (which has created a degree of controversy in several member states, including Germany), she had promised to do so. Asked about the subject on Thursday 5 July, the spokesman for the commissioner, Michele Cercone, said that this revision would “take more time” and would certainly not be for this year. The spokesman explained that this 2006 directive, which enables telephone and internet companies to retain their customers' data as part of the fight against terrorism and organised crime, is linked to other European instruments, such as the “e-privacy” directive, which is also due to be revised. In a more general context, it is also linked to the overall framework on personal data protection dating back to 1995, which Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding proposed amending on 25 January.
The spokesman for Malmström defended this postponement because of the need for coherence between all the different legislative proposals. He therefore explained that although the directive on data protection did not allow the member states' law enforcement agencies to use customer data for objectives other than fighting terrorism and serious crime, “they have this option” in the framework of the “e-privacy” directive. Respective revision exercises must therefore be coordinated and Malmström would therefore have to wait for progress to be made in the discussions of EU27 countries on the overall revision of the 1995 text on personal data protection for the underpinning of any future directive relating to data retention, explained Cercone.
Revision of the 1995 version, divided up last January into a draft regulation and a directive on the processing of personal data within the police and legal framework, will be on the agenda of the next informal meeting of EU home affairs ministers on 24 July in Nicosia. Discussions, however, are complex and have slowed right down due to the lack of appetite displayed in certain member states for modifying the way in which personal data is treated for cases involving police and legal cooperation. Certain member states do not want a new directive.
This is more or less the current situation regarding the directive on data retention. In April 2011, in its evaluation report, the European Commission underlined the usefulness of this instrument, which it believed had shown its worth in crime prevention and the interception of suspects. The Commission considers, nonetheless, that it is necessary to enhance certain aspects of it linked to fundamental rights. Several countries have, however, upped the ante and, like the United Kingdom, have argued in the opposite sense and against the 2006 directive being modified. This directive is obviously a very sensitive issue, as illustrated in Germany. The country is struggling to transpose it and is now having to deal with Commission about this at the European Court of Justice. (SP/transl.fl)