Privacy in the EU Institutions

The report runs through the main features of the EDPS activities in 2007, notably with regard to his supervisory and consultative tasks.
The report highlights a considerable increase in the number of prior-checks relating to processing operations of personal data in Community institutions and bodies. The EDPS also gave further effect to his advisory role on new EU legislative proposals having an impact on data protection with the publication of 12 opinions. 
2007 saw the signing of the Lisbon Treaty that provides for an enhanced protection of personal data and whose impact for data protection will be closely monitored.

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General report on "Measuring compliance with Regulation (EC) 45/2001 in EU institutions and bodies"

According to Article 41, paragraph 2 of Regulation (EC) 45/2001, the European Data Protection Supervisor is responsible for monitoring and ensuring the application of the Regulation. In March 2007, the EDPS launched a procedure known as "Spring 2007" as part of an effort to measure compliance with the Regulation in the various institutions and agencies and to take stock of the progress made so far.

Opinion of 29 April 2008 on a notification for prior checking on the selection procedure of members of the Agency's Scientific Committee (Joint cases 2008-179 and 2008-202)
In accordance with Regulation (EC) 168/2007 establishing the FRA, the Management Board of the Agency shall appoint a Scientific Committee after consultation of the competent Committee at the European Parliament. The FRA has therefore established a selection procedure for the selection of candidates for membership of the Scientific Committee and has submitted it to the EDPS for prior checking during the course of the procedure. Indeed, the shortlist of candidates has been established by the bodies involved in the selection procedure at the FRA (pre-selection panel, Executive Board, and Management Board) and the list of candidates is about to be communicated to the EP LIBE Committee.

The LIBE Committee requests that the Management Board provides the following information to the members of the Committee: a copy of the open call for tender and information on how the call was disseminated; a description of the selection criteria used during the procedure with justification of the selection methodology chosen; the number of applications received, broken down according to a Member State and gender, with information on how many of the applicants were not eligible to apply and a short list of candidates with their applications and CVs.

The LIBE Committee will discuss applications in a LIBE Committee session open to the public. It will then give its opinion about the candidates after receiving the above information by expressing its order of preference in a secret ballot. This opinion will be communicated to the FRA Management Board allowing it to nominate members of the Scientific Committee.

The LIBE Committee intends to make the names of the short listed candidates, their CVs and the results of the vote public based on the consent of the candidates. Non-consent on the part of any of the candidates will lead to the non publication on their data.

The EDPS adopted an opinion on this selection procedure and considered that although it was regrettable that the Notification from the FRA was submitted when the processing was well underway, all recommendations made by the EDPS, should be fully taken into account and the remedies should be put into practice. These recommendations where the following:
- that the FRA clarifies the periods for conservation of personal data; - that the FRA sets up procedures to ensure the right of access to candidates' personal data;
- that the FRA provides information to all the candidates in a privacy notice available on the FRA website and also to short listed candidates before communicating the data to the LIBE Committee;
- that the information on the processing of personal data remains available on the FRA website throughout the procedure in case applicants want to refer back to it;
- that the EP provides certain information on the processing of personal data to candidates when inviting them to attend the hearing before the LIBE Committee.

Opinion of 29 April 2008 on the notification for prior checking regarding the "Selection of confidential counsellors in the framework of the fight against psychological harassment and sexual harassment at the European Commission" (Case 2008-60)