Blog

The 41st meeting between the EDPS and the DPOs from the EU institutions and bodies took place yesterday at the European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA), in Tallinn.

I would like to congratulate eu-LISA for hosting what proved to be another very successful event. Our twice-yearly meetings with the DPOs are an invaluable opportunity to reinforce collaboration with our data protection partners, and are integral part of preparations for the new data protection rules.  

Today will be the culmination of several years of important discussions about how to respond to the digital challenge. Regulatory bodies have the necessary tools to address questions of concentration of market and informational power - and we have been considering how to use these tools in a smarter way.  

On 18 May 2017, the EDPS is hosting a workshop on Data Driven Life (digital ethics) in Brussels.

With the support of the Ethics Advisory Group, the workshop will explore the positive and negative consequences of data-driven changes on society and on individuals to pursue their own life choices.

The United States has always been a vital strategic partner for the EU. Our relationship extends to cooperation in multiple areas, as well as representing the largest trade and investment relationship in the world, with around €500bn of goods and services flowing in each direction.

Today, at the last Plenary Meeting of the Europol Joint Supervisory Body (JSB), the EDPS, represented by our Director, Christopher Docksey, and María Verónica Pérez Asinari, the Head of the EDPS Supervision and Enforcement Unit, attended the ceremony which marked the beginning of a new era in the data protection supervision of Europol.

Under the new Europol Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/794), the EDPS will take over responsibility from the JSB for the data protection supervision of Europol. The new Regulation will be fully applicable from the beginning of next month.

Today I signed a memorandum of understanding for increased cooperation between the EDPS and the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union.

A new generation of data protection standards is being promulgated by the European Union. Almost one year ago, the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Directive for the police and justice sectors represented the most ambitious endeavour of the EU legislator so far to secure the fundamental rights of the individual in the digital era.

Today we publish the priorities for our policy and consultation role in 2017.

If you believe the words sometimes attributed to Gandhi, law is codified ethics. But effective laws and standards of ethics are guidelines accepted by members of a society, and these require a social consensus. I believe that technology is changing or at the very least influencing our ethics and it’s a phenomenon we need to urgently address.

All EU staff are obliged to abide by their Staff Regulations, which outline the rules, principles and working conditions expected from them. But what happens if an EU staff member breaks these rules?