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October 28 2013

Draft EU Data Protection Regulation Discussions Stall on One-Stop-Shop Issue

"The Ministries for Justice and Home Affairs of the 28 Member States of the European Union met to further discuss the draft General Data Protection Regulation that is intended to replace the current European data protection framework. The new draft framework aims at simplifying the regime and lowering the administrative burden. This principle has been called the ""one-stop-shop"" and has been criticized by a number of national data protection authorities concerned about the potential for forum shopping for the jurisdiction offering the lowest level of protection. Despite several different propositions, the way to a consensus seems to still be long and puts the initial calendar for adoption of the new text in jeopardy. The Council issued a press release indicating that ""expert work"" towards finding a compromise will continue, notably around the scope of the powers to be granted to the competent supervisory authority (potentially limiting the scope of its powers), the involvement of other ""local"" data protection authorities in the decision making process, and the evolution of the role and powers of the European Data Protection Board. Nevertheless, Viviane Reading, the European Commissioner responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship has indicated that she hopes to see a compromise text presented in December and a decision taken before May 2014, when the European elections will take place."