Brussels, 23/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 22 July, the MEPs of the committee on civil liberties of the European Parliament called on the member states to reach an agreement quickly on the reform of the rules on the protection of personal data, which was proposed in January 2012 by now former Commissioner Viviane Reding.
At a debate on the state of progress with the reform, which consists of a general regulation and a directive on the processing of data in a police and judicial framework, rapporteur Jan-Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany) stressed that “we have now been waiting for the Council to make up its mind for two and a half years; that is a long time”. Amongst other things, he expressed concern at conflicts of applicable legal systems and laws encountered by companies operating on European territory. The young German MEP, who is well aware that the European Parliament cannot force the Council to speed up its procedure, urged member states to ensure that, at the very least, they can start trialogues on the discussion points.
Sophie in't Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) joked that this long wait may have had some positive effects, as it has allowed the Court of Justice of the EU to issue verdicts which shore up the Parliament's position, such as its recent ruling in May on the right to be forgotten. She urged the Council to move towards the EP's position, because “otherwise, I am not sure that I will be able to vote for the final text”.
Cornelia Ernst (GUE/NGL, Germany) said that time is not working in the Parliament's favour. “It would be scandalous if the Council watered down the content of this text still further”, she stated. “The longer we wait, the more ground we lose”, added the EPP's shadow rapporteur, Axel Voss of Germany.
A representative of the European Commission said that progress had been made since the “irreversible impetus” provided by the European home affairs ministers in March. The last several meetings have also seen progress, with June's JHA Council reaching a partial agreement on several chapters, such as the transfer of personal data to third countries and the territorial scope of the regulation. The last informal ministerial meeting in Milan saw progress on the inclusion of the public sector in the regulation. However, the Italian Presidency of the Council dampened hopes in just a few words, refusing to be drawn on a timetable. “There would be little point in giving you a date, but we hope to get there as soon as we can”, said the representative of the Presidency. Officially, the member states have set themselves the deadline of early 2015 to conclude their talks. (SP)