Brussels, 11/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to a European Commission press release, European Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding obtained the support of ETNO (European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association) on Monday 11 February, in her quest to reform European data protection rules.
The Commissioner from Luxembourg and ETNO chairman, Luigi Gambardella, have launched a joint appeal to the European Parliament and Council to thrash out an agreement on rules applying to all European and international telecommunications players and so prevent any negative impact on European companies that have to comply with these rules.
In a press release, the chairman of ETNO said that the system proposed by the Commission to enhance coherent decision making by the different national protection authorities constitutes “a major move towards establishing a truly level-playing field, allowing all players in the EU to compete on equal footing”. ETNO explained that “the consistency mechanism in the proposed Data Protection Regulation is crucial to ensure the Commission is there as a backstop when regulators can't agree a common line”.
This responsibility sharing mechanism in the event of disputes involving consumers from a number of countries, also known as the “consistency mechanism”, was the subject of discussions all last week in Strasbourg between the Commissioner and EP representatives, according to a source close to the matter, with the issues of keeping this mechanism in the text or not and what role to give the Commission already on the table. Despite the numerous debates that have been provoked by the reform, including protests against it, particularly those from the US, companies and Chambers of Commerce, the European Parliament has already begun to vote on its position. The Parliamentary committee for industry, research and energy (ITRE) is expected to give its opinion on 20 February (the internal market and consumer protection committee, IMCO, has already given its opinion). The subject will be discussed by European Union justice ministers on 7-8 March next, prior to reaching a possible general approach on the “regulation” chapter in the reform. (SP/transl.fl)