Brussels, 01/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 1 April, European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx said the EU Council of Ministers must commit to concluding changes to the European data protection rules as a matter of urgency.
The EDPS was unveiling an assessment of the data protection situation for 2013. He will remain in his job until October in order to allow time to find a successor (nobody suitable was found at the end of 2013) and hopes new rules can be finalised for the start of 2015 to give Europeans greater rights vis-à-vis American companies and giving the option of a European cloud.
Hustinx said: “The European Parliament has voted resoundingly in favour of the reform package which will offer a uniform set of rules that will make it simpler - and more economical - for online and traditional businesses to follow. The onus is now on the Council to support the package, guaranteeing citizens the right to control what their personal information is used for and the right to recourse if they are unfairly targeted or discriminated against.” He added: “The reformed rules should provide for clarity and consistency throughout Europe: the same rules will apply to all firms who do business in the EU, regardless of where they are based, and citizens will be more confident about how their personal information is treated.”
In addition to reform of the 1995 directive on personal information (which should give the EDPS greater powers), Hustinx focussed in 2013 on implementation of the Stockholm programme in the area of freedom, security and justice and issues in the Internal Market such as financial sector reform and public health and consumer affairs. In 2013, the EDPS received 78 complaints, 9% fewer than in 2012, 48 of which could not be dealt with because they were related directly to issues at member state level. Some of the 30 eligible complaints related to the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF, and the European agency for fundamental right. (SP)