Brussels, 19/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx has just presented an opinion on the data protection aspects of the draft regulation on maintenance payments. The greatest area of concern, he said, is the key principle that data collected for a specific purpose should not be used for different purposes. “An exception to that principle can only be allowed if it is proportionate, necessary, laid down by law and foreseeable,” he went on. The EDPS also noted that the European Parliament should be involved in the scrutiny of the proposal as part of the co-decision procedure, given its “significant implications for the privacy of all persons involved”. The draft regulation on maintenance payments, presented by the Commission in December 2005 (see EUROPE 9090) seeks to make it easier to recover cross-border maintenance debts within the EU.