Commissioner Mariya Gabriel has criticised the slow pace of discussions at the Council on the draft regulations on data confidentiality. During the Telecommunications Council on Monday 4 December, she urged the EU28 to speed up their work. According to the information we have received, the Estonian Presidency is expected to present new compromises this week, in view of a meeting on 11 December.
The Commissioner stated, “Almost a year after the publication of the proposal, we would have hoped for more progress and a comprehensive commitment from all member states in this process”. She called for progress to be made for the authorised processing of communications data and protecting the integrity of the equipment terminals.
It should be recalled that the draft regulation aims to enhance the confidentiality of online exchanges, whilst allowing service providers to use the personal data of customers that have given their prior consent (see EUROPE 11700). Parliament reached its position on 19 October (see EUROPE 11887).
The progress report presented to the ministers indicates that there is still work to be done on the software confidentiality parameters, direct marketing communications and the directories accessible to the public (see EUROPE 11912). Nonetheless, it does highlight progress made with regard to the relationship between the general regulation on data protection (GDPR), machine to machine communications and the monitoring authorities.
The TELE meeting on 11 and December will focus on confidentiality parameters, data processing and storage. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)