Three organisations representing the interests of SMEs at European level, UEAPME, EUROCHAMBERS and HOTREC, wrote to the European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, on Tuesday 15 May, to ask the Commission for a “period of grace” of one year before applying the sanctions set out in the general data protection regulation (GDPR), which will enter into force in barely ten days' time.
To substantiate their request, the organisations refer to the late publication of certain guidelines of the 'article 29' working group, which brings together the personal data protection authorities of the member states of the EU, as well as the delay in the implementation by the national governments, which could lead to unfair practices.
They also called for the Commission to advise the member states and national data protection authorities to undertake to alert SMEs in the event of non-compliance with the regulation, rather than fine them immediately, up until 25 May 2019.
“We support the idea of a unified rule of law, but one cannot expect that SMEs be fully compliant with this extremely complicated legislation right from the start if those responsible for enforcement do not agree on its interpretation”, said the UEAPME chair, Ulrike Rabmer-Koller.
On Monday, Commissioner Jourova announced that just four member states (Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden) were completely ready (see EUROPE 12019). France, whose National Assembly voted the text through on Monday, will soon be added to the list.
“It is not like it is new to them, they have been sitting in the Council, negotiating this, since 2012, and since 2015 they know what will be in this regulation”, said the Parliament's rapporteur on the dossier, Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany), at a press conference on Tuesday.
In its communication 'Completing a trusted digital single market for the benefit of all', which was published the same day (see other article), the Commission urged the governments to switch to top gear and make the GDPR regulation applicable from day one. It also calls on the member states to pay particular attention to the needs of SMEs, to ensure that their compliance costs do not harm their ability to compete with large businesses. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)