Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Mission accomplished. In Strasbourg at lunchtime on Wednesday, MEPs broadly confirmed their desire to open up negotiations with the Council as quickly as possible on the reform of European data protection rules. In their more than comfortable adoption of the report by Jan-Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany) - by 621 votes in favour, 10 against and 22 abstentions -MEPs reiterated their desire for stricter rules to apply to internet giants such as Facebook and Google when processing the data of Europeans, and for the Europeans themselves to have more control. As their committee did at the end of October, they also went further than the European Commission as regards sanctions, proposing that the regulatory authorities can fine up to 5% of the global turnover of a company if it violates European rules. European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding proposed 2% in January 2012, when presenting her reform of the 1995 directive.
Although considerably more divided, MEPs also gave their green light on Wednesday to the directive on the handling of personal data as part of police and legal investigations. This directive, which replaces a framework decision dating from 2008, was defended by Greek MEP Dimitrios Droutsas (S&D) and received the approval of MEPs (371 votes in favour, 276 against and 30 abstentions). Droutsas' report stated, amongst other things, that more should be done as regards data protection requirements of the police and legal authorities in criminal matters “as we know that they sometimes act in an arbitrary way”, he told a press conference on Wednesday morning. Most of the EPP Group had stated that they would oppose the report which, logically, they did during the vote.
The general regulation defended by Albrecht, which has received a good deal more media attention and is also more symbolic in its direct attack on the American web giants, aims to give every citizen more power over his or her own data. The aim of the digital absolute “right to be forgotten” having fallen at an earlier hurdle, each citizen should nonetheless have the right to have his or her own data removed. They should also be entitled to consent to the use of their data, as the internet industries must clarify their confidentiality policies and give every internet user the means actively to react to this.
However, the regulation also attacks the highly controversial transfers of data to third countries, as practised by American companies in the framework of the so-called Safe Harbour agreement. Even more controversial since the many revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden on the phone tapping and gathering by the American NSA of masses of personal data on non-American citizens, these transfers of data by companies should be possible only on the basis of authorisation granted by the national regulator, the MEPs demand. The company in question should also inform the citizen concerned of this authorisation request.
Voted through comfortably, Albrecht's report did not, however, win unanimity, as some felt it was too prescriptive, such as the association DIGITAL Europe, which fears that European companies will lose competitiveness and that there will be many technical obstacles to their development. It is also felt to be dangerous for the press and journalists by the publishers of European newspapers within ENPA, who are calling for an automatic exemption for the press sector from the provisions on the 'right to be forgotten', on the grounds of the freedom of expression.
Above and beyond these differences of opinion, the data protection package adopted by MEPs on Wednesday still faces another sizeable obstacle - specifically, the Council and its many misgivings on the subject. The general regulation, which is felt to be extremely dense and technical, could be the subject of a partial approach in June at the formal meeting of the EU justice ministers. This would make it possible to open trialogues with the European Parliament on the elements adopted, with a view, in the best case scenario, to reaching a definitive agreement on the reform early in 2015. (SP)