On 15 December, the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council have closed a deal on the new rules that will comprise the data protection reform in the EU. The deal is a step forward towards the Digital Single Market, and is expected to enhance the protection of personal data and boost innovation by facilitating cross-border data flow within the EU.
The EU data protection reform will implement the General Data Protection Regulation, which will harmonise, strengthen and modernise the data protection legislation in the EU, and the Data Protection Directive, aimed at the police and criminal justice sector.
Following this agreement, a final text is expected to be implemented in the beginning of 2016, after which the member states will have two years before the legislation comes into force.
The European Commission’s press release on the data protection reform can be found here.
For more information, please contact Jose Saras, a partner at Preiskel & Co LLP.