Mediation Service - Commission

Opinion of 18 May 2009 on the notification for prior checking on the "Mediation Service of the European Commission" (Case 2009-010)

The European Commission has a Mediation Service which provides impartial advice to each official, servant or department that consults it. That Service intervenes if a case is submitted to it by an individual or a Commission department and may hear the persons concerned and request information from the Commission departments concerned. The role of the Mediation Service is to reconcile the administration and the staff. It makes recommendations and gives opinions, but has no power of decision.

The EDPS has examined the processing of personal data in managing absences owing to illnesses and has concluded that it does not seem to involve any infringement of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001, provided that certain recommendations are implemented, in particular that the competent department checks the appropriateness of the transfer on a case by case basis and ensures that only relevant data are transferred; reminds data recipients that they may process the data they receive only for the purposes for which they are transmitted; applies the right of access and rectification to anyone whose personal data are processed; makes the specific confidentiality statement available on the Commission intranet site, and, if necessary, informs other persons whose data are being processed.