Brussels, 03/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) sounded a serious note of caution, warning the Council that he believed the revised draft legislation on data protection fell far short of European data protection requirements.
In October 2005, the Commission had presented a proposal for a framework decision on the protection of personal data processed in the context of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (EUROPE 9041). In January 2007, the German presidency put forward another proposal aimed at strengthening data protection still further, and above all suggesting that a single entity should be set up as an authority to survey individual data protection rules.
In his opinion published on Monday 30 April, the EDPS firmly recommends that the Council should not adopt the current proposal, unless significant improvements are made. Although he acknowledges the efforts made by the presidency to take the dossier requiring unanimity forward, the EDPS expresses serious concern about the tendency to move towards the “smallest common denominator”. According to Mr Hustinx, many aspects of the current proposal do not meet data protection requirements as defined by the EU Treaty, and some provisions even fall far short of the standards set out by Convention 108 of the Council of Europe (1981), which established basic principles for data protection in Europe. In a press release, Mr Hustinx says there must be high standards in place so that the rights of citizens are upheld and so that police and judicial cooperation is effective. “Unfortunately, this does not come up to expectations”, he added. The EDPS therefore recommends that Council withdraw the last points of the proposal from the negotiation, namely those which extend the competence of data processing under the third pillar to Europol and Eurojust, and those which establish a new joint control authority. The EDPS suggests extending the scope of the proposal to include “domestic” data processing, so that citizens may be adequately protected for exchanges with third countries, may demand a sufficient level of protection for exchanges with third countries on the basis of a common European norm, and make data exchange with non-repressive authorities and private entities subject to stricter conditions. At the Justice and Home Affairs Council in April, ministers did not really address this issue. “We are still far from an agreement”, one diplomatic source familiar with the dossier said. Opposition expressed concerns mainly questions of principle relating to application, for example, whether the proposal should be applied to all data processing within member states or only apply to data exchange between countries. On the Parliament side, the EP civil liberties committee gave its agreement on 23 April to Martine Roure (PES, France), who is rapporteur on the proposal. The document will be presented to MEPs on 8 May, amended in parliamentary committee on 21 May, and should be voted in plenary in June. Although the EP's decision is only advisory and not binding, its weight is not negligible as it is closely linked to the future of the draft regulation that establishes the visa information system, VIS (EUROPE 9412). (bc)