The EU has set up a number of large-scale IT systems including Eurodac; the Visa Information System; the Schengen Information System; the Customs Information System; the Internal Market Information System.
The supervision of these databases is shared between the national Data Protection Authorities and the EDPS.
In order to ensure a high and consistent level of data protection, national DPAs and the EDPS work together to coordinate the supervision of these databases.
Presentation of the EDPS 2014 Annual Report during the meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, speech of Giovanni Buttarelli, European Parliament, Brussels
2014 was a year of transition for the EDPS, marked by the delayed selection and appointment of a new Supervisor and Assistant Supervisor. Despite the resulting uncertainty, the EDPS under the calm authority and tireless efforts of Peter Hustinx, whose 10-year tenure as EDPS drew to a close in 2014, continued to make significant progress in mainstreaming data protection in EU policymaking.
Building on this legacy, the EDPS' priorities for 2015, as part of the five year strategy of the dynamic team of new Supervisors, is to help the EU to speak with one voice on data protection to uphold the rights and interests of the individual in our digitalised society. To this end, the adoption of the data protection reform will be a significant milestone for Europe and an important message to the rest of the world.
"EDPS Strategy 2015-2019" speech by Giovanni Buttarelli, Brussels, 2 March 2015
Speech given by Wojciech Rafał Wiewiórowski during the conference finalising the PHAEDRA project entitled “Enforcing privacy: lessons from current implementations and perspectives for future”, Cracow, Poland.